Table fork
Tenedor de mesa individual
- Date
- s. XIV (Italia) · confidence low
- Place
- Venice and Florence, Italy
- Credited to
- Italian courts; introduced to France by Catherine de' Medici (1533) and to England by Thomas Coryat (1611)
- Field
- Tools
What it is
An individual two- or three-pronged utensil for eating without touching food, used first for pasta and candied fruit. It marks the civilising process of table manners.
Maria Argyropoulina used it in Venice in 1004 and scandalised Peter Damian; by the 14th century it was in common use in Italy, and by around 1600 almost universal among merchants and the upper classes. Catherine de' Medici took it to France (1533), and Coryat described it in 1611.
What it led to
- Table etiquette and individualised cutlery
- The Sheffield cutlery industry and table silverware
- Cuisine that presupposes the utensil (sauces, small pieces)
Built on
- Table knifec. 1637
- Byzantine fork
Made possible
- Complete silver cutlery set
- Four-pronged fork (18th century)