A French faience wall salt box -- known in France as an egouttoir or boite a sel murale -- with a double-pocket form that speaks directly to the practical elegance of the French country kitchen. Crafted from earthenware and finished in a warm sandy beige glaze, this wall-mounted piece dates to the early twentieth century, when salt boxes of this type were a fixture above the fireplace or beside the kitchen stove in farmhouses across provincial France.
The shaped backplate, with its gently scalloped silhouette and two small hanging holes punched through the top, carries a freely modeled relief of grape clusters, leaves and curling vines -- a motif with deep roots in French regional pottery. The all-over craquelure, the fine web of crazing that covers both the backplate and the two open-fronted pockets, is entirely consistent with period faience production and gives the piece a handsome, warm character that only comes with genuine age. The two square-form pockets sit side by side at the base of the backplate, each generously proportioned. Hang it in a kitchen, a pantry or a dining room, or stand it on a shelf as a display piece and fill the pockets with herbs, small tools or kitchen odds and ends.
Condition and patina consistent with age. The craquelure glaze is present across the surface as expected for a piece of this era, and a small area of raw clay is visible along one outer edge of the backplate where the glaze has not fully covered the rim.
Approx. 11.2 in wide x 13.6 in high x 2.8 in deep (28.5 x 34.5 x 7 cm).
