It's almost Thursday once again (wow that week went by so fast) time to meet up with Mrs Matlock and the other participants for Alphabe- Thursday.
K is for Knife Rest
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| A set of 6 hand painted antique Nevers knife rests |
"Knife Rests have been used for longer than most people think. In the early 18th Century and possibly the late 17th century the gentry and the ruling classes sat down to a meal that could have had anything up to 12 courses and apart from their hands probably only had one knife and fork per person. To save soiling the table, the knife and fork and tablecloth, if there was one, the utensils had to be put down onto something that kept them off the table. It was probably initially just a piece of wood in the times of Henry the eighth but from the eighteenth century we know that some enterprising person started to design what we now consider proper knife rests in pairs, sets of 4,6,12 and probably more."Source: Antique Knife Rest Collection.
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| a set of 6 metal dachshund knife rests |
Back in the noughties I sometimes offered French knife rests, portes couteaux, for sale on eBay.
Collectors loved them,
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| a pair of Montagnon, Nevers faience knife rests |
tablescapers loved them,
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| a cheeky pair of pottery dolphins |
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| a 1950's pair of colouful fish shaped vintage knife rests |
and I loved shipping them, so light and easy to pack!
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| Christofle cut glass knife rests |
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| a selection of Quimper faience knife rests |
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| a pair of silver plate "wishbone" knife rests |
I must admit that I developed a fondness for these decorative table accessories, acquiring quite a selection to use whenever we entertain.
I'm always on the lookout to add to my private collection when mooching around brocantes, vide greniers and auction houses.
Click
here to read a knife rest post on the
love quimper blog.
How about you, do you ever include knife rests in your table settings?
