Abstract
This article proposes the analysis of some aspects concerning food practices in the city of Rio de Janeiro during the second half of the eighteenth century among them the ownership of tableware by individuals belonging to several strata of the population. Among such objects, we stress cutlery, considered as indicators of modernity in table manners. As such, the articles draws on post-mortem inventories and explores the possibilities of their analysis in what concerns the study of the arts of table, a segment in the history of food that has recently attracted the attention of historians. Although the history of food in Portuguese America is a vast research field in constant development, the material culture of the table and the kitchen has received less attention. As such, our aim is to give a contribution to the debate about meals, their rituals and artifacts.
Keywords
food practices; material culture; history of food; tableware