Etiquette of a Puritan Place Setting

Puritan place-setting, c.1670 — Photograph: Jeremy Phillips for Fairfax House, York

With England recovering from a long period of austere Puritanism, and the Crown reclaimed by a Monarch used to extravagance and ornament, it still took time for luxury to manifest itself again on the dining-room table.

The one exotic item in this particular assembly is the napkin, woven in Flanders with patterns of flowers, but folded in the shape of a fish, after instructions in Giles Rose's manual.

The knife and two-tine fork by Abraham Brock and spoon by Jacob Isaac could not be simpler, although there is some decoration on the Façon de Venise goblet. 

It is the monumental silver candlesticks by Jacob Bodendick, 1677, which stand out, however, resting on their spreading square base and cushion-shaped knop. Notice also how the baluster stem terminates in a square candle socket.— From “British Cutlery, An Illustrated History of Design, Evolution and Use”, York Civic Trust, 2001

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