In the 18th century, a number of noteworthy innovations began to transform dining habits: the use of forks spread, as did the use of different-sized glasses and crystalware, and porcelain became whiter thanks to kaolin. The French way of table setting consists of around thirty dishes, all placed simultaneously on a large table, creating - in a sumptuous setting - astonishing gastronomic architectures. Like the pyramids of charcuterie and seafood at the Château de Versailles, mocked by Madame de Sévigné: “One of those pyramids that oblige you to write to each other from one end of the table to the other.” During this table-service, guests were often served cold dishes and only those placed next to them. 

In the 19th century, the “modern” table was established with the arrival of the so-called “Russian-style” service. Dishes arrived on the table one after the other, enabling everyone to enjoy the same dishes at the same time. The plate was placed in the centre, three centimetres from the edge of the table, with the knife on the right and the fork on the left. The cutlery was placed in the order in which the dishes were served, from the outside inwards. 

The spectacular rise of the bourgeoisie during this century led to the success of glassware and silverware manufactured on an industrial scale, especially thanks to electroplating. The table setting then took on a maximalist aesthetic: with floral arrangements or extraordinary fruit bowls, goldsmith’s centrepieces and candlesticks, etc. In L'Art de recevoir (1964), Hedwige de Polignac described this sudden proliferation of ideas as follows: “Under Napoleon III, tables became cluttered with objects once again: decanters, salt cellars, garlands of flowers, pyramids of fruit. There were enormous centrepieces, huge candelabras, or extreme sophistication: the Castiglione placed a tall cornucopia in pink opaline on a table entirely embedded with flowers and edged with a chased copper border. The art of the table became a cult.”