L'Art de Recevoir autour d'une table

"Mealtime is the universal opportunity of sharing, friendship, hospitality, tradition, and dinner is still today one of the most popular daily events.

The meal, seen in the eighteenth century as a party, is an idea still quite close to the needs of our time. The table being the theater where is staged according to the occasion, the meals to enjoy, "en tête à tête" or with friends, away from everyday worries, and only with those whose company refreshes, softens and enriches.

Creating collections of objects for the table made by SIÈCLE I wanted, to add to the everyday the dream, regain the imagination, authenticity and sometimes to smile to items that have made the great tradition in the history of decorative arts; if the art of the table was always the mark of concern of how we appear to the people, the art of receiving or being received, carried to the extreme by the complex code of the inherited nineteenth century etiquette, can be a real challange, especially for those who are reaching out of their normal social circles. Today, fortunately, this rigidity leave its place for the art of giving a moment of well-being to its guests.

Set a table is to create an atmosphere that allows the imagination of those who share this meal, whether simple or lavish, to fly and so transform this moment into an unforgettable adventure.

If the intricacies of etiquette, inherited from our grandparents, are not essential to receiving. I tried to approach the art of setting the table with freedom, joy, color, but also the facilities and constraints of our modern world.

May all lovers of the art of hospitality give free rein to their spontaneity and creativity for the delight of those who share their table! "

Marisa Osorio-Farinha and Philippe Chupin, May 1997