Author:Moore,Simon The importance of the knife has always been considered paramount; from pre-Christian days when the dead were interred with a knife as their most cherished possession, to the present day when we use knives at the dining table, in the preparation of food & for a multitude of other purposes Cutlery for the Table covers the development of eating utensils from Prehistoric times through Roman, Mediaeval, Tudor & Stuart up to the 18th century & the present day. This work, which concentrates more on earlier periods but takes us through to the discovery of stainless steel in the early part of this century, has been approached from the collectors' & museum researchers' point of view, concentrating on design & its role in the evolution of eating cutlery. Although there have been many books written on various aspects of the subject, few can be used as a guide to the attribution & dating of individual pieces. Cutlery for the Table addresses this problem & provides copious descriptions & many illustrations the origin & development of cutlery through the ages. As well as photographs & drawings to illustrate each period there are tables of bolster & blade designs, & of London cutlers' marks to aid identification. Simon Moore's book makes fascinating reading not only for the expert, for whom it will be a useful tool, but anyone with an interest in table cutlery. |
