Tableware
Definition of the term tableware
In the German language, the term "Geschirr" (tableware) has changed considerably over the past centuries. Originally, "tableware" stood for a large, not firmly defined number of individual objects that served a coherent use in their entirety. As a result of the development of language, the number of product families referred to as "tableware" has been greatly reduced, so that today all relevant lexicons only refer to "tableware" as
- Cookware - consisting of different pots and pans
- Tableware - All the vessels and utensils used for eating
- Strap gear - with which draught animals are harnessed in front of a cart
Some older generations still know the expression "to put on the oars", which is a variation of the old German "sich ins Geschirr legen". The expression "to put on the harness" meant both powerful draft horses that could pull a heavy cart and the maitre or mamsel who served a delicious or elaborate dish at the table.
Porcelain is not tableware
The history of porcelain is shaped by many countries, personalities and eras. Many of them are verifiable, some embellished, diminished or flattered. However, it is indisputable that in Europe the porcelain industry was strongly influenced and financed by the noble houses and that special status symbols were created with the "white gold".
Until deep into the 19th century, porcelain was unaffordable for the common people. The lower social classes ate from wood, tin or earthenware.
This circumstance is the reason why the porcelain maker never calls his goods tableware!
Porcelain was of noble origin and served to represent and underline the pleasures of the table. People did not want to put themselves on the same level as "primitive tableware" and so "the entirety of a porcelain set" was called a service.
Certainly, we have to endure certain "weathering" of terms in the modern use of language. But to call porcelain "crockery" is an outrage! Like calling a diamond a mere stone! "Real stones", like "ceramic tableware", do not define any statements or clues about the quality and value of the product.
The term "tableware" should therefore only be used by a professional for ceramic and cooking utensils, i.e. the totality of qualitatively and quantitatively undefined, indefinable qualities.
Porcelain, on the other hand, is a definition of quality that guarantees very unique characteristics due to the raw material kaolin and the firing temperature above 1,300 °C! If we at Holst Porzellan use the word "tableware" on one or the other page of our homepage, this is merely due to the decay of the language and is exclusively oriented towards the ranking of Google search terms for certain products in our range.
For the consumer, the distinction between ceramics and porcelain will become considerably more important in the future. Please read more about this in our article Porcelain vs. ceramic.