Nowadays Condiment sets are an important and very attractive addition to a dinner table, especially in solid silver. But centuries ago salt was of enormous social importance. The condiments stood like a centrepiece on the table on the High Table, with the host and more important guests sitting round and dipping their meat into the tiny salt container somewhere near the top of the structure.

Sometimes they were massive and always marvellous they illustrate a different standard of table manners, rather than a lack of them, for forks were not used until after 1660 and fingers tended to become messy when diners picked up their food, dipped it into the salt and ate it.

Today our Condiment Sets handmade by Broadway Silversmiths of Birmingham still serve the same purpose and are a reminder of how beautifully condiments were presented.