Jens Quistgaard Double Barrel Peppermill and Salt Shaker

Perhaps a “double barrel” evokes a different reference for most people, but this moniker is the most apt description of the shapes of this peppermill design. Two distinctly barrel-like blocks stack atop one another, although these barrels are squatter than the typical vessel for alcohol. Both barrels sit above cylindrical pedestals - the only difference between them is the top pedestal is about half as tall as its downstairs neighbor. The grinder rotation point is just above the bottom barrel. All four pegs are removable. The top two are for loading salt, the bottom two for loading pepper. There are six salt holes on the top surface of the mill.

Almost all the specimens of this mill available in the resale market are made of staved wood and have all-metal Peugeot grinders. We’ve seen just a few items where both halves of the mill are made from single blocks of teak.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired this design in 2003 and is one of the few examples we could find of an American museum collection holding a JHQ peppermill. The museum’s website states this mill was designed in 1972, which we do not believe to be the case, as this mill prominently appears in the 1964 Rare Woods ad.- The Following has been Quoted by The Peppermills of Jens Quistgaard