Elegant Eating : Four Hundred Years of Dining in Style

Surveying the art of fine dining in Europe from the 16th century to the present, this book concentrates on the art of decorating the table, following the courses of a grand dinner from cocktails to dessert. From flowers and garlands to porcelain, silverware and centrepieces, the many different items created for eating and drinking in style are shown in a rich variety of settings. Introductory sections on dining ceremony and furnishing set the scene, which moves from grand palaces with sumptuous 18th- and 19th-century table settings, to the bare oak favoured by William Morris, or more intimate private dining rooms and stylish modern interiors. Unusual illustrations, ranging from Elizabethan spice dishes, Italian baroque ice sculpture and Georgian novelty tablewares to emphatically modern Scandinavian ceramics, are shown alongside a wealth of paintings, historical photographs and original designs revealing an astonishingly rich visual heritage. Expert curators and art historians draw on a range of sources such as diaries, novels and manuals of polite behaviour to evoke a vanishing world of arcane etiquette, elegance, luxury and taste. International in outlook, "Elegant Eating" combines a rich array of individual items used to dress the table - many from the collections at the V&A - and authentic historical settings to give them context. In addition, set piece table layouts in the historic manner have been specially created for this book, which should be an inspiration to anyone with an interest in style and interior design. Surveying the art of fine dining in Europe from the 16th century to the present, this book concentrates on the art of decorating the table, following the courses of a grand dinner from cocktails to dessert. From flowers and garlands to porcelain, silverware and centrepieces, the many different items created for eating and drinking in style are shown in a rich variety of settings.