Enjoy your meal! As early as the 17th century, those who could afford it in the Rhineland dined at festively set tables with fine porcelain and the finest glassware. It took a long time before porcelain could be manufactured in Europe, and people paid high prices for tableware from the Far East. Despite the elegant table settings, table manners did not always match our modern standards. How do you behave at a formal dinner today, and would that have stood out three centuries ago?
