SC - Nefs picture

[tgl at mailer.uni-marburg.de]

<< The picture is wonderful. ... What is it about? >>

According to Flandrin/Lambert, who also show this picture in their
"Fêtes gourmandes au Moyen Âge" (p. 110), this is a banquet given by
Charles V to Charles IV of Luxembourg. The surrounding scene is part of
a non-culinary "entremets": an interlude representing the conquest of
Jerusalem. -- Edition: Delachenal, R. (éd.): Les Grandes Chroniques des
France. Chroniques des règnes de Jean II et Charles V. Paris 1916.

They (Flandrin/Lambert) also show the "Nef de table" of Anne de Bretagne
(p. 47), a beautiful piece, and briefly comment on different functions
of nefs (p. 46): salt container, proba (poisoning test device),
container of cutlery, container of dishes given away from the table to
the poor.

In a contribution by Stéphane Vandenberghe to _Fêtes gourmandes_ on the
earliest forks, it is interesting to hear that in 1380 "la nef du roi
Charles V contient une coupe d'essai, une cuillère, un couteau et une
fourchette" (p. 45; source quoted: J. Labarte: Inventaire du mobilier de
Charles V, roi de France. Paris 1879, 46).

Thomas