Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 2.djvu/200

176 The table on the dais at which the entertainer and his superior guests sat was placed across the chamber;

The dresser, (dressoir) now degraded to the kitchen, was once the chief ornament of the dining-room, and whatever plate the owner of the house might possess was arranged on it to the best advantage. It was placed either opposite the dining-table or at the back or side of the dais. The form of it varied; sometimes it is represented exactly like a modern dresser, but it generally appears as a tall square object with steps at the top (à degrès) covered with coloured cloth; at its base was a stepping-block, to enable the servants to reach any vessel that might be required. We still see china disposed above old-fashioned mantels, as in some of the rooms at Hampton Court, in the style that gold and silver plate was once exhibited on the dresser. Little notion is entertained of the great quantity of plate which our ancient sovereigns and nobility possessed. We may give as an instance, the articles forming the service of plate presented by Edward the First to his daughter Margaret, after her marriage to the duke of Brabant. It consisted of forty-six silver cups with feet, for the butlery; six wine-pitchers, four ewers for water, four basins with gilt escutcheons for the hall; six great silver dishes for entremets; one hundred and twenty smaller dishes or plates, the same number of salts; one gilt salt for the duchess's own use; seventy-two spoons; three silver spice-plates, and one spice-spoon. The goldsmith's bill for this outfit amounted to £284. 15s. 4d.

In the earliest illuminations tapestry or hangings appear behind the high table only at the back of the dais, as in the engraving at the head of this paper, copied from a MS. of the fourteenth century; it represents the entertainment of King Arthur by the felon and disloyal knight "Cueur de