The Fork: Objet d'Art, Vehicle of Sustenance and Symbolism

Wrote this for an assignment at school. The professor liked it, I hope you will too...


The Assignment:
Discuss the gastronomic relevance of one or more works of art (for example, symbolism, historical context, table setting).


Eating utensils are increasingly being appreciated as works of art in their own right. Table ornamentation has long been an artful exhibition of social class fueling the creative workings of designers and silversmiths around the world. The current exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City, "Feeding Desire – Design and the Tools of the Table 1500 – 2005," features a visual, and occasionally tangible, journey through the history of dining. In addition to featuring specific utensils, plates, and glassware, the exhibit also includes historical data relating the recorded use and evolution of style differentiation of various utensils, as well as their depiction in period art. "For the last 500 years the designs of knives, forks, and spoons have provided beautiful and useful extensions of our arms, turning the act of eating into the experience of dining." (Quote from the opening placard of "Feeding Desire…" at the Cooper-Hewitt)

The Fork: Objet d'Art, Vehicle of Sustenance and Symbolism
Recorded use of the fork dates back to the nobles in the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century. However, it did not become accepted as a dining utensil in Europe (via Italy) until the 15th century when it joined the knife and spoon, not only as an eating utensil, but as an artfully rendered personal accessory wrought with symbolism. Because of the shape (the tines), the fork was frequently associated with the devil; because the fork was used predominantly by women, it became associated with courtesans, provoking the Church to ban the use of these instruments of sin.

The first public use of a fork is rumored to be by an 11th century Byzantine princess traveling in Venice. She used a dainty silver instrument with fork tines on one end and a small spoon on the other –a sucket fork, to eat the sticky sweet fruits offered at dessert, piercing the fruit with the tines then sipping the sauce with the small spoon end of the instrument. Use of the fork for enjoying sticky sweets and for holding meat in place as it is cut grew in popularity with the nobility of Italy. "It offered yet another opportunity for the upper classes to distinguish themselves from the peasantry." (Strong, 168)

Due to the effeminate manner in which it was used, and its dainty image, the fork became associated with ladies. In the painting, "The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti" by Sandro Botticelli in 1483, "the ladies at the left-hand table are using them for dessert." (Strong, 169) Though this artistic reference proved the existence of forks in the dining rituals of the nobility, references to them remained rare. "Not until 1563 do forks appear again [in art], this time in Veronese's great canvas of 'The Marriage at Cana'." (Strong, 170-171) In this rendering of an open-air wedding feast, at which Jesus and his mother Mary were guest, the artist included an image of a young woman, likely a courtesan, sucking seductively on her fork. This small inclusion in such a great image was scandalous, akin to placing the devil at the same dining table as Jesus.

By the late 17th century, the fork became more common on the great tables of Europe. They were produced in sets, matching the knives and spoons. "Silver provided a popular material for the handles, whether it was left plain, or decorated with brightly colored enamels. Ivory gave even greater scope for ornamentation, being intricately carved into the form of human figures, or geometrically faceted, while in its simplest shape its smooth surface could be inlaid with silver wire, and brightly stained in floral patterns in red and green." (Brears, 73-74)

Examples of these beautifully crafted pieces are plentiful in the "Feeding Desire…" exhibit. Some of the most striking included a fork and knife set from Germany produced in the 18th century with colorful beaded handles, a collection of pieces from 16th century Italy featuring handles of wood and ivory carved in human forms, and an art deco style traveling set with handles of green-colored and natural ivory diamond shapes set with fine wire, presented in a sharkskin, velvet lined carrying case.



References:

Brears, Peter. "Decoration of the Tudor and Stuart Table." In 'The Appetite and the Eye': Visual Aspects of Food and its Presentation within their Historic Context, ed. C. Anne Wilson, 56-97. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991.

Strong, Roy. Feast: A History of Grand Eating. London: Jonathan Cape, 2002, 162-189, 237-244.

Museum Exhibition: "Feeding Desire – Design and the Tools of the Table 1500 – 2005"
An exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, May 5 – October 29, 2006
Viewed: Saturday, June 4, 2006. For more information: Website: http://www.cooperhewitt.org/EXHIBITIONS/feeding_desire/index.asp last viewed Monday, June 5, 2006.

Website: image of "The Marriage at Cana" by Paulo Veronese http://www.artchive.com/artchive/V/veronese/marriage_cana.jpg.html last viewed Monday, June 05, 2006