At Victorian dinners, little individual salt dishes with tiny spoons were at each place setting, iirc. Not shakers.
There was a larger salt dish placed in the middle of the table, from which guests took some salt into the tiny individual salt dishes. Sitting “above the salt” meant a place of honor closer to the host, and “below the salt” was for the less important guests.
I think these are the tiny individual salts. In a set, there would be a larger dish as well, with a lid.
Thats what my mother figured as well.Interesting that all have different scenes painted on them.