Etiquette is in the Details

“When a table is set, the position of the forks may vary according to the tradition and origin of the silverware. Their tines may face either upward or downward.”

The Beauty of Little Details

One of the most rewarding aspects of working in etiquette and protocol is the endless opportunity to discover meaningful details every day and everywhere we go.

Details and knowledge are what make the difference. We do not notice what we do not know.

When a table is set, the position of the forks may vary according to the tradition and origin of the silverware. Their tines may face either upward or downward.

In the French tradition, fork tines face downward towards the tablecloth, however, in the English tradition they face upward. The knife, in both traditions, remains the same, its cutting edge always faces the plate.

The explanation is just a little detail of where their silver brand engraving is found in order to display them.

Before 1770, European silver also set their forks facing down and it was not until English table settings began turning their forks over when their engravings were moved to the front. France, retained this custom, while much of Europe gradually abandoned it between 1770 and 1830.

“Jean-Robert Pitte — geographer and Permanent Secretary of the *Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques* — explains this history and supports preserving the tradition for a reason well understood in hospitality: tines facing downward feel far more welcoming than greeting a guest with what may resemble a threatening rake.”@hospitalityandbutler

This is only an example of the many small details we can discover in a beautiful table setting. Each requires a little knowledge to understand why both styles have their own particular charm.

Details and sensitivity are what transform a properly set table into a magnificent one.

I often describe table etiquette as a masterpiece in motion: a theatrical performance in which every element has an important role and a reason behind its place.

When a table setting is executed flawlessly, those details create memorable experiences we sometimes feel without realizing the effort, practice, and knowledge behind the “stage”.

Contributor, Isabel. E. Martinez, who was educated in Business Management at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, in Caracas, Venezuela. After relocating for a few years to Miami, Florida, Isabel developed a company teaching computer skills. Among her clients were Baccardi in Bermuda, and Mavesa, Telcel (Movistar), and Heinz in Venezuela. That is when she discovered her passion for teaching. As her children became adults, she shifted her focus and dedicated her time to teach on subjects she is very passionate about; Hospitality and Table Etiquette. Throughout workshops in English and in Spanish, Isabel works with employees in the hospitality industry, and those business professionals who when interacting with customers, would like to make sure that they are the most professional representations of their companies. Especially when attending business lunches and events. She also offers youth and teen courses in etiquette, helping them to excel with integrity and pride in whatever field they desire to pursue. To learn more about Isabel, visit her website: www.learningschool2.com or @isasetiquette

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Dinner Plate History

TABLE TEST

Q: TRUE OR FALSE: At a very formal dinner, you are expected to place your dinner roll directly on the tablecloth.

A: TRUE. Butter is not served at a dinner that has many courses, because the food is very rich. Since there are so many dishes on a formal table, the bread plate is dispensed with, and diners are expected to (neatly) set their bread right on the table, although still in the spot where a bread and butter plate would have been, above the fork.

Plate Use and Plate’s History 

If you were sitting down to dinner in medieval times, you would eat your meal from a trencher, a thick, often stale slice of bread with the crusts pared off. Although you could in theory eat your plate at the end of the meal, it was more common to collect the used trenchers and give them to the poor.

Trenchers were succeeded by wooden plates (or metal plates for the wealthy), and, with the growth of the ceramics industry in the seventeenth century, the adoption of ceramic dishes. Gradually the custom of using individual ceramic plates for each diner replaced the tradition of eating from individual trenchers or from communal bowls, and the use of the dinner plate became common by the nineteenth century. Over time, the dinner plate itself evolved into a variety of plates of different sizes.— From “Elements of the Table,” by Lynn Rosen, 2007

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Tabletop Linen Etiquette and History

Nowadays the tablecloth is only one of several features in the decoration of the table and must share its responsibility with fine china, shining silver and sparkling glass and serve as a background and foil for all of them as well. — Green table linens (as shown above), more than just about any colored linens, seem to go with just about every manner of tabletop accessories, from china and ceramics, to flatware and crystal.

The oldest decorative appointment of the table is the cloth. When plates were still slabs of bread or wooden trenchers, when fingers preceded forks and every guest brought his own knife, nevertheless, strips of cloth were laid over the bare boards with meticulous care and detailed ceremony. By the sixteenth century the cloth had become a specially designed adornment for the table, woven (by hand, of course) in a diaper, basket weave, or damask, and always of linen. Frequently it was ornamented with fringed edges, inset strips of lace, or richly embroidered, those of Italy reveling in color. Save perhaps for a standing salt of silver it was, until the food appeared, the only decoration of the table.

Nowadays it is only one of several features in the decoration of the table and must share its responsibility with fine china, shining silver and sparkling glass and serve as a background and foil for all of them as well. For what is on the tabletop — cloth, place mats or only the fine finish of the table itself — must have the quality of building up all the other appointments or toning them down, of pulling them all together into a unified scheme. With all this responsibility this cover has to be completely right in itself, intrinsically, decoratively, functionally.  

From “Setting Your Table... Its Art, Etiquette and Service,” by Helen Sprackling, 1960

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia