Antique Knife Rests

I hadn’t heard of knife rests when I ran across my first one at an antique show years ago. The dealer told me their purpose was to keep food off a tablecloth. I was familiar with rests for chop sticks because I’ve seen those at restaurants and in Asia. But I hadn’t seen anything like these, so I bought my first one.

Background

Since then, I’ve learned knife rests were used in Europe since at least the early 1700’s. They were very popular during the Victorian era and used more widely in Europe than the United States. It only makes sense people would want to preserve their fine tablecloths and expensive tableware. Until electricity and electric appliances were common, it was more difficult to produce and clean linens and plates. It wasn’t as much of a problem if someone dropped food particles on a tablecloth when they were mass produced. It was also easier to replace chipped plates. Modernization made these items unnecessary.

Design

Knife rests are now a novelty or collector’s items.

The ones I have found feature animals on each end. I have a set of six with little bears, otherwise, everything is just one or two. They come in a vast amount of designs. I have swans, partridges, foxes, cockatiels and one other bird. (I’m not sure what it is.) In addition to animal figures, I’ve seen knife rests featuring human figurines, plants and geometric designs.

The majority of mine are made from pewter or are silver plated. I also have a set of six made from pink glass with etched flowers. I have seen others made from ceramic, clear crystal or Sabino glass. You can probably find whatever design you want if you look hard enough.

Today

I personally don’t collect anything in particular. However, I like using unusual items from the past that we can still use today. We pull these out whenever we have a big dinner and everyone can have their own design. Keeping them all unique makes the table more interesting and gives us something to talk about. At one time, knife rests were used primarily by upper class families. We just enjoy having them as part of an eclectic table. Our family is eclectic, so these work well for us. My family is glad we can still enjoy a functional and interesting item from the past.