Small works of art at the table – folding napkins

Thu, November 14, 2024, 2:21 p.m. CET

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The situation is familiar. You've invited good friends over and want the setting for the meal to look nice. So you resort to various design tips and decorative tricks. This includes beautifully folded napkins . Perhaps in the shape of a swan, or how about the Starfleet symbol from the Starship Enterprise – that shouldn't be too difficult, right?

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Why is this piece of fabric called a "napkin"?

Let's first take a look at this piece of fabric – or its paper counterpart, for example, when you're at a funfair like the Dom in Hamburg . The napkin has been with us for at least twenty centuries.

In the first century AD, the so-called "mappa" an integral part of a Roman banquet. And barely 200 years later, these mappas were incorporated into depictions. From these, we know of a cloth measuring 50 x 50 cm, which served to protect the upholstery of the dining couch, and the mouth cloth , which is still used today to dab the lips. In the illustrations, it was usually held in the left hand.

For the next 1300 years, the idea of the napkin seemed to have vanished from the collective unconscious, as it wasn't reintroduced until the 16th century. And this reintroduction, of course, wasn't for the common people, but for the nobility. The middle and lower classes apparently continued to do as they had in the Middle Ages: wiping their hands on the tablecloth (if one was available) or directly on their clothing.

But now the napkin, which incidentally owes its name to the French for "little servant" , is once again on everyone's lips and can also be purchased on the internet, for example at https://serviettendirekt.de/servietten/ .

Why do people fold napkins?

One of the reasons for doing this is, of course, aesthetics. It simply looks nice when this piece of fabric isn't just lying plainly on the plate, but has been draped in a somewhat artistic way. This doesn't mean you should use all your origami skills, as the napkin shouldn't be folded too elaborately.

What napkin folding techniques are there?

A quick internet search will reveal numerous options. The most well-known are, of course, the bishop's mitre , the fan , or even the jacket , but resourceful people have so many more possibilities. And when you consider that you can even an entire zoo – a crab, a seahorse, a spider, a cobra ready to bite, or a peacock – the initial idea of folding a swan doesn't seem so far-fetched after all.

Folded napkins are part of an atmospheric table decoration
. Image source: https://www.pexels.com/de-de/foto/sitzung-tisch-kerzen-drinnen-6554676/

Looking at these works of art can certainly make one envious. However, it's just like any other subject. If you're unlucky, your first attempts at origami, just like your first coherent text and your first few kilometers of running, will be a complete disaster.

You quote the good Catweazle , mutter "Nothing works" – and yet you keep going.

Practice, practice, practice – that's the motto. Because it's certainly no easy feat to shape a piece of fabric into a rose or lotus blossom, a junk or a screw.

Only the Starfleet symbol is quite easy to break. Take the napkin and fold it so that the square resembles a diamond shape. The open side should be facing you. Then fold the bottom point up to the top point, creating a sort of "sandwich" shape. Next, fold the point that was previously folded upwards back down, leaving a small border uncut.

So we don't fold the entire napkin back down, but only about two-thirds. Then the left point is brought to the right point.

And: The Starfleet badge .

Conclusion

There are so many different things you can make from a simple napkin. It's a shame that in our throwaway society we've degraded this—actually not unimportant—accessory into a mere paper object that can be easily disposed of.

A cloth napkin, when no longer needed, could be cleaned and upcycled .