A knife rest is a piece of

kitchenware :'' For a record label, see Kitchenware Records'' Kitchenware refers to the tools, utensils, appliances, dishes, and cookware used in food preparation and the serving of food. Kitchenware can also be used to hold or store food before or aft ...

used to rest a used knife without touching the table, preventing cooking fluids from getting onto tables. Similar tools are the

chopstick rest A chopstick rest is tableware, similar to a knife rest or a spoon rest, used to keep chopstick tips off the table and to prevent used chopsticks from contaminating or rolling off tables. Chopstick rests are found more commonly in restaurants t ...

spoon rest A pink spoon rest for 3 spoons A serving spoon resting on a vertical "ladle rest" A spoon rest (also known as a dublé) is a piece of kitchenware that serves as a place to lay spoons and other cooking utensils, to prevent cooking fluids from g ...

, and

spoon and chopstick rest A spoon and chopstick rest is a piece of tableware on which a spoon and chopsticks can be placed without their used ends touching the table. In Korean cuisine context, it can be referred to as ''sujeo'' rest as ''sujeo'' is a paired set of spoon a ...

used in Asian cuisine.

History

Knife rests in their modern form were invented in the late 17th century or early 18th century, but earlier ones, possibly just

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

, were used during the time of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. They were invented to save the

knife A knife (: knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least Stone Age, 2.5 million years ago, as e ...

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

, and

tablecloth A tablecloth is a cloth used to cover a table. Some are mainly ornamental coverings, which may also help protect the table from scratches and stains. Other tablecloths are designed to be spread on a dining table before laying out tableware and ...

from being stained by cooking fluids. Later, however, they were developed in sets.The History of Knife Rests.
Antique Knife Rest Collection Sale. Retrieved 17 April 2011.Keenan, Arlene
Knife rest etiquette in a table setting
. ''The Triton''. Retrieved 19 April 2011. In the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

, knife rests were made in a wide variety of materials, designs, and configurations. Materials used included

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

mother of pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

, and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

. The

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

also created knife rests known as ''porte-couteaux''.

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

ns,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

s, and other

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

ans also developed knife rests around this time. The

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

created

s in the same manner. From the late 19th century, most knives were designed to be weighted towards the handle. For this reason, late Victorian etiquette manuals mention that knife rests and worries about fouling the tablecloth had become unnecessary. Towards the middle of the 20th century it was often the case that heavy bone handles were replaced with lighter white plastic, which caused classic-style cutlery to again threaten tablecloths. In the Western world, knife rests were used at table through the first half of the twentieth century, mainly by the upper classes, but now usually are purchased mostly as collector's items.

References

External links

* Kitchenware {{Cooking-tool-stub

History

See also

References

External links