Fred Roberts Book-Form Ceramic Spice Rack with Rooster Drawers, Circa 1950

Fred Roberts ceramic spice rack, made in Japan circa 1950 and distributed by the Fred Roberts Company of San Francisco. Six cream-glazed shakers shaped like miniature books sit upright in a wooden rack above two pull-out ceramic drawers. The spines are labeled Salt, Allspice, Paprika, Pepper, Cinnamon, and Ginger. Each has a volume number in Roman numerals, a small yellow chick, and thin brown bands that recall the tooling on a bookbinding. Below, a pair of multicolored roosters appears among green foliage on the drawer fronts, each beside a small round pull.

The set belongs to the wave of Japanese ceramic housewares that reached American kitchens through importers after the Second World War. Fred Roberts distributed both tableware and novelty objects for the home. This spice rack shows what could happen when a familiar kitchen task was given to a designer with a sense of humor. Each seasoning had its own place and could be found at a glance, while the little wooden shelf made the six shakers look like a library of cookbooks.

Two mounting holes in the shaped backboard allow the rack to hang on the wall. Its compact footprint also makes it easy to display on a shelf. The drawings reward a closer look. The chicks on the spines are small enough to miss from across the room, and the roosters below introduce a larger, more colorful version of the same motif.

Much of the pleasure of keeping this set together lies in the relationship between its parts. A single ceramic book is a novelty shaker. The six volumes, the shelf, and the two drawers form a small piece of kitchen furniture, with a place for each seasoning and a joke that still works when you reach for the salt.

Dimensions:
W 9 in × D 3.8 in × H 7 in