Noël — L'Habit Rouge (Set of 8)

A gentleman's red coat taken close — the buttons, the turned-back cuff, a hand resting on the hip with the ease of someone who has been painted before. The head is left out of the frame. What remains is the colour, the braid, and the gesture.

Red at Christmas usually arrives as holly or ribbon. This is red as an 18th-century tailor understood it: a deep, warm scarlet with the nap of velvet on it, given the whole plate to work in. It dresses a holiday table without one seasonal motif, which also means it does not have to come down in January.

Available in 9″ dinner and 7″ salad or dessert sizes, with a coordinating bowl. Eight plates.