Cut glass is another of the can-do-withouts, except, perhaps, the
carafe, now used instead of the old-fashioned water pitcher, at $3,
$3.50, etc.; cruets for vinegar and oil, simply cut and in good style,
for as low as $1.50 each; and the finger bowls, one for each person.
The last, of thin crystal and perfectly plain save for a sunburst of
cutting underneath, are $3 a dozen, with others more elaborate, and
costly in proportion. Tumblers, thin, dainty, and delightful, cut a
little at the bottom, are $1.50 a dozen, and far pleasanter to drink
from than their elaborately cut and artistic brethren. Occasionally a
pretty little olive dish can be picked up for as low as $1.50 or $2,
but rather perfect and inoffensive plainness than imitation cut, cheap,
crude, and clumsy. The American cut glass is considered the choicest.
Side by side with it, and preferred by many as being less ostentatious,
is the beautiful Bohemian glass, with its exquisite traceries in gold
and delicate colors. Only in this glass is color permissible, and then
principally in receptacles for flowers. There is reason to believe
that it was from a Bohemian glass plate the King of Hearts stole the
tarts on a certain memorable occasion, and if so, one can readily
understand why the temptation was so irresistible to him.
[Illustration: A collection of eighteenth-century cut glass.]
ARRANGEMENT
To put all our pretty things on the table in such a way that the result
shall be a picture of daintiness, grace, and symmetry is seemingly a
simple matter, but the trick of good taste and a mathematical eye are
both involved in it. The manner of setting and serving the table
varies somewhat with each meal, but a few suggestions apply to all
alike. The center of the table must be exactly under the chandelier,
and covered with the pretty centerpiece with its dish of ferns, a vase
of posies, or a potted plant in a white crinkled tissue-paper pinafore.
Nothing else has the decorative value of the table posy, however
simple, which seems to breathe out some of its outdoor life and
freshness, and should never be omitted. Twenty inches must be allowed
for each cover, or place, to give elbow room, and all that belongs to
it should be accurately and evenly placed. At the right go the
knives--sharp edges in--and spoons, with open bowls up, in the order in
which they are to be used, beginning at the right. At the points of
the knives stands the water glass. At the left are arranged the forks,
tines up, also in the order of use, beginning at the left, with the
butter plate, on which rests the butter knife, a little above the
forks. The napkin--which should be folded four times in ironing and
never tortured into fantastic shapes, restaurant fashion--lies either
at the left of the forks or on the plate at the center of the cover.
If many spoons are to be used, the soup spoon alone rests beside the
knife, with the others above the plate. Individual salt cellars go
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