Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Gera Porcelain Factory, Thuringia (manufacturer)
Covered spice box (c. 1770)
earthenware
8.6 × 12.8 × 4.9 cm (overall)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Where possible, the image must be reproduced in full (no cropping or over-printing). If you wish to use a detail of the work, a full reproduction of the work must also be reproduced elsewhere in the publication.
While the NGV believes this work to be in the Public Domain, it is the responsibility of the publisher to ensure that no further permissions are required for use.
For a complete list of terms and condition of use see the National Gallery of Victoria’s copyright policy.
Covered spice box
(c. 1770)
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
8.6 × 12.8 × 4.9 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This compartmentalised spice box with its swivelling lid would have contained pepper, cloves and nutmeg, to be taken as digestives following the main course or as palette cleansers between courses. The consumption of spices no doubt also masked bad breath caused by rotting teeth. The spice box form originally derived from a silver form, but such boxes were produced in both porcelain and earthenware during the eighteenth century.