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Knife box

Ceramics
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A knife box stores cutlery, sometimes paired with ceramic services.

Detailed Definition
In the category of ceramics, knife boxes complete table settings. Poets reference preparation and order.
Example
Example in poetry:
The knife box — a sloped, fitted wooden case for storing table knives, standing on the sideboard — appears in poems about Georgian dining ritual and the social significance of the set table; A poem about a Georgian sideboard might describe the knife boxes standing at either end like "wooden sentinels, the silver handles nested inside — an argument that dining was a ceremony requiring preparation"; In a poem about the decline of formal dining, the knife boxes are redundant: "the knives now in a drawer, the boxes standing empty on the sideboard — all that fitted order unpacked and abandoned"; The knife box's interior — with its fitted slots, each knife in its exact place — gives poets an image of perfect arrangement, the domestic equivalent of a well-ordered argument; In a poem about a country house auction, the knife boxes are sold in pairs: "the fittings still intact, the velvet still holding the impression of blades that have not been there for thirty years"; A poem about a butler's duties might describe the nightly task of cleaning and replacing the knives: "each to its slot, the order restored before morning — the household's small proof of its own coherence."
Additional Notes
The knife box — a sloping-lidded wooden container fitted for storing knives vertically by their handles — was a standard feature of the Georgian dining room sideboard. While not itself ceramic, the knife box was part of the same formal setting as fine porcelain services and silver-plate, and ceramic knife handles were common. Its presence in a room signals the full equipment of a formal dinner service. In literary contexts, the knife box contributes to the catalogue of domestic objects that define a household's standing and the rituals of Georgian and Regency dining.
Also Known As
cutlery case silverware holder table caddy
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