Ivory in unworked form, as well as ornate objects carved from ivory such as salt pots or spoons, were coveted trade products for the European market. Their production by West African artists began immediately after the arrival of the Portuguese on the West African coast in the second half of the 15th century. The lid of this salt jar is in the shape of a hemisphere with a second spherical jar on top. The sides are each formed by a Portuguese horseman. At the back is a Portuguese man with a manilla in his raised hand.