Table setting

The practice of dictating the precise arrangement of tableware has varied across cultures and historical periods.

At an informal setting, fewer utensils are used and serving dishes are placed on the table.

Sometimes the cup and saucer are placed on the right side of the spoon, about 30 cm or 12 inches from the edge of the table.

However, such objects as napkin rings are very rare in the United Kingdom, Spain, Mexico, or Italy.

Coffee is served in Butler Service style in demitasses, and a spoon is placed on the saucer to the right of each handle.

A table setting may have many elements, especially formal ones; the long utensil on the left side is a lobster pick.
Informal setting with pancakes in a California mountain cabin
Place settings are conspicuous in this 1920 sketch by reporter-artist Marguerite Martyn of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
A typical lunch table setting.