Designer: Richard Meier (born 1934)

Item: Meier Pedestal Salt and Pepper Shakers

Manufactured by: Swid Powell

Country of origin: Hong Kong

Year made: Ca. 1993

Materials: Silverplate over brass

Dimensions: Each is 3 ½” x 1 ½” x ¾” 

Condition: Very good used condition. Two small dings in the salt shaker in the upper section likely from being dropped, and its bottom edge has some very minor dent, but there is no loss of silver plating. These can be seen photos three and four. These are forgivable given the rarity of this set. The pepper shaker is very clean with no faults found.

Description: A very rarely found Meier design for Swid Powell. Marked Swid Powell, and with Meier’s initials on one as shown and the other retains a small sticker that very faintly says Made in Hong Kong. Swid Powell objects were made in Hong Kong at the very end of the firm’s existence. The quality of these shakers competes with earlier productions made in Italy by Cleto Munari. These are very heavy and well constructed, weighing nearly one pound each. In 15 years of seriously pursuing Swid Powell objects we have only seen two other sets, one of which we handled (see sold section of website). These were only produced for one season, thus their extreme scarcity. Meier’s designs for Swid Powell are in many major museum collections and have become highly collectable.