Cutlery

Four visions of contemporary cutlery design in stainless steel (from left to right): Stockholm cutlery designed by Kurt Mayer for WMF, (1960s); Nuovo Milano by Ettore Sottsass, (1987); Mami by Stefano Giovannoni, (1993) both for Alessi; and a design by Zaha Hadid for WMF (2007)

A table setting for an eight-course meal, including a butter knife resting on a crystal stand, a cocktail fork, soup spoon, dessert fork, dessert spoon, and an ice cream fork, as well as separate knives and forks for fish, entrée, main course, and salad

A set (known as a canteen) of Georgian era silver cutlery, including ladles, and serving spoons. The thin item on the left is a marrow scoop for eating bone marrow

Cutlery as typically presented for use in a self-service cafeteria or canteen

Set of French travelling cutlery in the Victoria and Albert Museum (1550–1600)

TS 81 stainless steel field cutlery made for the German armed forces (1980s)

Cutlery are utensils used for serving and eating food at the dining table — originally referring to just knives, whereas forks and spoons were silverware — all part of flatware (American English) or tableware, these both encompassing crockery as well. These three implements first appeared together on tables as a set in Britain in the Georgian era. A collected set of silverware is called a canteen of cutlery, typically referring to the polished wooden compartmental case in which they are stored.

The city of Sheffield in Yorkshire, England has been famous for the production of cutlery since the 17th century. An express passenger train – the Master Cutler – running from Sheffield to London was named after the industry. The development of cheap and mass-produced stainless steel in Sheffield in the early 20th century brought affordable cutlery to the masses.

Sheffield's counterparts are Thiers, Puy-de-Dôme in the Auvergne of France and Solingen in the Northern Rhineland of Germany.