The iconic, yet overlooked, Grit Salt Bin, shrunken down to sit on your dining table and hand crafted in stoneware ceramic.
Seen on street corners around the UK and the rest of the world, storing Grit "Salt" for a frosty winter, ready to cover pavements and streets to keep them ice and snow-free. You'll have seen them thousands of times and never paid much attention. You may have even sat on one waiting for a train in an underfunded station without enough benches.
This humble bit of street furniture is my first creation by Moon & Street, the spinoff of my infamous duck brand, Richard Moonstreet.
My handmade Salt Shaker bins are made for your dinner table.
A talking point and a way to celebrate the mundane. The first batch are available now!
The process: All my salt bins are entirely handmade by me. I began with a 3D printed plastic scale-model of a salt bin and cast a copy of this in modelling plaster - a complex challenge in itself comprising of six different parts. From here, the plaster dried out and matured for a fortnight, after which the walls can be assembled and a liquid "slip" clay can be poured in. The excess is poured out and the remaining slip sets inside the mold, the plaster absorbing the water from it. The walls are removed to leave a stoneway clay hollow copy of the bin. This is then refined, smoothed down, dried out and kiln fired to 900'c. After that, it's glazed in a mustardy yellow ceramic glaze (I went for this colour to show off a sun-stained and bleached bin with worn edges, reminiscent of the ones you'll see on the streets). This is then kiln-fired again, to stoneware temperatures. Once cooled, I then print and adhere a water transfer "salt" sign on the top and cover with an adhesive gloss.
Care: Dry wipe only and avoid using water or any other chemical, especially any solvents that will wear away the transfers. The bins are sold with a reusable sealant pad for the bases.
Sizes: These are made in 1:14 scale of the real thing. 72mm wide, 40mm deep and 50mm high.
