Salt cellar (2) - .835 silver

A beautiful pair of antique silver salt cellars (or bonbonnières/sweet boxes) shaped as detailed swans.

This particular model with pierced or finely detailed feathering and a hollow interior (often gilded on the inside to protect the silver from the corrosive action of salt) was widely produced around the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century by renowned silversmiths in Europe, especially in Germany.