Editing Tableware (section)

===Cutlery===
[[File:Chinese spoons.jpg|thumb|250px|A pair of Chinese porcelain spoons]]
The knife is the oldest type of cutlery; early ones were normally carried by the individual at all times.  Forks and spoons came later, and are initially only for the wealthy, who typically carried their own personal set. After the Romans, who made great use of spoons, joined by [[fork]]s later,<ref>Strong, 33</ref> there were only knives and perhaps wooden spoons for most of the Middle Ages.  It was only in the 17th century that hosts among the elite again began to lay out cutlery at the table,<ref name="Strong, 226"/> although at an Italian banquet in 1536 for [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]], it is recorded that each guest was provided with knife, spoon and fork, evidently a rarity.<ref>Strong, 170</ref> The table fork was revived in Italy in the 16th century, and was described for his English readers by [[Thomas Coryat]] in the 1590s as "not used in any other country that I saw in my travels".<ref>Strong, 167</ref> In England and France, it only became common after the 1660s, even in the court of Louis XIV,<ref>Strong, 168 (France); Osborne, 736 (England)</ref> and for a while seems to have mostly been used by ladies, and for especially messy food, like fruits in [[syrup]].<ref>Strong, 168–170</ref>