Traveling Knife with Ivory Handle Knife

text from "Historical Overview" in Feeding Desire catalogue:

"Althought it was the norm for individuals to travel with cutlery and other flatware until the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, this custom did not die out when hosts started to provide flatware for their guests. Traveling sets continued to be used when visiting inns, as exemplified by Celia Fiennes's will cited above, and for picnics, hunts, and other outdoor occasions, well into the twentieth century. The sets often were hinged to fold ( figs. 50, 51), and may have had fittings on the spoon to hold the tines (fig. 52) rather than having small or removable handles as earlier pieces did. Fancier sets sometimes included the addition of a beaker, and such amenities as salt, pepper or mustard holders fitted in a leather case (fig. 53). In other sets, both handles had pockets to recieve the blades or tines of the other implement, so when shut they formed an etui (fig. 54).

Traveling Knife with Ivory Handle Knife; France; ivory, steel, silver; L x W x D: 18.4 × 1.7 × 1.1 cm (7 1/4 × 11/16 × 7/16 in.); The Robert L. Metzenberg Collection, gift of Eleanor L. Metzenberg; 1985-103-197

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005.