Elegant Eating: Four Hundred Years of Dining in Style - Hardcover

Glanville, Philippa; Young, Hilary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810965933 ISBN 13: 9780810965935

Publisher: Victoria & Albert Museum, 2002

Synopsis

Deftly blending the decorative arts and social history, this lavishly illustrated volume is the only book to survey the changing styles of fine dining and tableware from the 16th century to today. Introductory sections on dining ceremony and furnishings set the scene, after which the book follows the structure of a grand dinner, progressing from cocktails to dessert.

Focusing on the many decorative objects that stylish eating and drinking have inspired through the ages, the book is an important visual resource of luxurious period table settings, accurately re-created down to the last detail in the specially taken photographs. Fine individual pieces of glass, silver, and porcelain from the V&A's unparalleled collections offer a look at every manner of fine dining, from medieval banquets to fashionable 21st-century restaurants.

About this title

About the Author:

Philippa Glanville is a leading expert on the history of dining. She is the author of Silver in Tudor and Early Stuart England and editor of Silver (both published by V&A Publications). Formerly Head of the Metalwork Department at the V&A, she is now Academic Director of Waddesdon Manor and Consultant Curator to the Gilbert Collections, Somerset House. Hilary Young is a curator in the Department of Ceramics and Glass at the V&A and is a leading expert on English Porcelain. His publications include English Porcelain 1745-95: Its Makers, Design, Marketing and Consumption (1999), and editor of The Genius of Wedgwood (1995), the catalogue to the exhibition of the same title.

Review:

Concentrates on the art of decorating the table, following the courses of a grand dinner from cocktails to desserts. 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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Victoria & Albert Museum
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0810965933
• ISBN 13: 9780810965935
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144