Le couvert, dans la main
The guest first encounters weight, balance, a grip. A piece of cutlery can look right on the cloth and feel less convincing in use.
In service, one notices how a piece of cutlery rests, how it is picked up, how much room it leaves beside the plate. Its balance must hold through repeated use, washing and handling.
Le verre, entre deux personnes
Cut crystal divides the light. At table, it also interrupts the view. The stem, the rim and the width of the bowl sit among other movements.
The glass must be considered at the height of a seated guest. There must still be room to pass a carafe, put down a hand, see the person speaking.
L’assiette, pendant le service
Whiteness is only part of it. There is the edge a hand must take, the space occupied on the table, the weight of a stack being cleared. Its rim must withstand the repeated movements of service, from the first plate set down to the last stack carried away.
La salle connaît les objets deux fois : lorsqu’elle les dispose et lorsqu’elle les reprend. Between those two moments, a shape becomes a use.