Salt and Pepper: Shake & grind

Feb 7th - Mar 7th, 1997

Close to three years ago, the Gallery Committee brainstormed with passionate enthusiasm for a theme show which would entice, excite and surprise artists and audience alike. We felt inspired that the historic, ever-present utility of the paring of Salt and Pepper could lead to flights of fancy and the "unexpected", as well as variations of the recognizable visual vocabulary of artists whose work rarely, if ever, is functional. Our expectations have been exceeded: the exhibition illustrates a measure of the breadth of "possibilities" which artists invent, attain and share, joyously!

-Gail Brown, Gallery Committee Chair

Featuring works by Wesley Anderegg, Dan Anderson, Marilyn Andrews, Doug Baldwin, Barry Bartlet, Mary Jo Bole, Jill Bonovitz, James Brasshear, Mark Burns, Cathy Butterly, Nancy Carman, Keith Chervenak, Sara Brooks Clark, John de Fazio, Kim Dickey, Barbara Diduk, Paul Dresang, Jill Engel, Madelon Galland, Vicente Garcia, Arthur Gonzales, Chris Gustin, Leah Hardy, Magdalena Hefetz, Jason Hess, John Hopkins, Leroy Johnson, George Johnson, Thomas Kerrigan, Phyllis Kloda, Bruce Metcalf, Ron Myers, Keisuke Mizuno, Judy Moonelis, Justin Novak, Daniel Orr, Anne Perrigo, Monika Roer, Katharina Rooney, Elyse Saperstein, Takumi Sato, Anne Shatas, Pat Stern, Lizbeth Stewart, Ian Symons, Claudia Tarantino, Hirotsune Tashima, Timea Tihanyi, Dal Troyer, Matt Wilt, Bruce Winn, Paula Winokur, Robert Winokur, Sybille Zeldin, and Arnie Zimmerman


In 1858 John Mason (of fruit jar fame) changed the social status of salt at the dinner table with the  invention of the contemporary salt shaker. Prior to that salt cellars were found primarily in the homes of the elite. Since then Salt and Pepper shakers have only grown in popularity. After World War II shakers became popular collectibles among working class Americans.

Many companies encouraged this by producing numerous variations on a theme, such as the State Shakers by Parkraft which presented the 50 states (the first edition only had 48) as shaker sets. Each state had a representative item as its partner shaker: Alaska was partnered with an igloo, North Carolina with a pack of cigarettes, Pennsylvania with the Liberty Bell.

Kitsch, or Novelty, Shaker Collectors thrive on possessing many different varieties on a theme. Many companies produced sets of animals or vegetables with human characteristics and a humorous nature. Pigs are one of the more commonly collected creatures, although cat shakers are so popular that there is a national club of collectors of Feline Salt & Pepper shakers alone!

Many thanks to Harry Anderson, Jeanne Jaffe, and Jane Lipton for the use of their collections, as well as their knowledge and love of the field.