Historic Cutlery : Changing Shapes From The Palaeolithic To Modern Times

The more than 3,500 items in this unique private collection of cutlery,
illustrated with 450 large colour plates, present the expert and the
amateur with an outstanding survey of the changing shapes of eating
implements from the palaeolithic to the twentieth century. The complete
collection is divided into three parts:- Part 1 covers cutlery from
prehistoric times to the seventeenth/eighteenth century. Part 2 unites
'table-ware' from the eighteenth century to the classicist period, which
means cutlery laid out to 'cover' the table (as in cover charge), an
extension of its earlier derivation from French 'coutelier', a cutter. Part
3 shows cutlery from the Historicism of the Neue Sachlichkeit period, and
focuses on Art Nouveau or Jugendstil with its sheer endless/innumerable
ideas for new shapes and designs by well-known artists and manufacturers.
The very skilful displays of cutlery arranged by the author and collector,
are illustrated in large format and natural size on 450 colour plates of
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