A superb salt shaker that blends craftsmanship with modern design.

Austrian designer Thomas Feichtner was inspired by a 16th century sculpture to create a product that celebrates being in contact with food.

Craftsmanship seems to have found a new lease of life thanks to a new set of designers who enjoy using their hands to create. Among those following this trend is Austrian designer Thomas Feichtner by reviving craftsmanship through objects that combine the handmade and historical with modern and industrial manufacturing. His latest work is Saliera, a sturdy silver spice rack for Jarosinski and Vaugoinwhere spices must be served in an old-fashioned way, with two fingers.

The study of Feichtner in Vienna is just steps away from a 166-year-old silver factory, and despite the Saliera's contemporary form, the salt cellar takes its name from a 1543 piece by Benvenuto Cellini that featured two gold nudes made expressly to serve, of all things, salt and pepper. "It's one of the best-known pieces of art in Austria," says Feichtner "It is like a painter in Florence who dares to call one of his paintings The Mona Lisa. It's like a painter in Florence who dares to call one of his paintings The Mona Lisa. ".

However, it is the designer's custom to make modern objects using traditional craftsmanship techniques accumulated over centuries by Austria's historic brands.

The original Saliera is a complex object full of symbolism and is made of pure gold. "And yet, the only way to serve salt is with two fingers," says Feichtner. "This simplicity coupled with its opulence impressed me." And so, in this same deliberate way, the new salt shaker requires users to touch what they are about to eat - a small gesture loaded with great meaning these days.