Set of Fourteen French Embroidered Butter Yellow Placemats 13½" x 18"

From the festive tables of Chanteduc, Patricia and Walter Wells's farmhouse and cooking school in Vaison-la-Romaine, this generous set of fourteen butter-yellow placemats is as French as a market morning in Provence. Each mat is worked in a warm, densely stitched embroidery — fan motifs at the corners, a flowing wreath of leaves encircling a central oval, and a fine crosshatch fill at the centre — all rendered in a tone-on-tone ocher thread that catches the light without clamouring for it. The scalloped border, with its small rounded petals, is a very pretty detail. These mats graced many a long table at Chanteduc, laid for cooking school students and friends gathered around Patricia's table after a day in the kitchen. Patricia explains that setting a beautiful table is important, and that it's fun to use all of the pieces you've collected — a philosophy that turned every meal at the farmhouse into a memorable occasion.