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Trestle Table Eating In Ancient Ways

Many of today's tables are designed after the trestle table which dates back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It was the popular style in the 14th century. A very practical design, it is simply a matter of laying a few boards across two stands. You will see this design employed in modern day picnic tables to Amish hand-crafted dining tables.

During the day the common room or the great hall as they were known was again cleared and used as the Lords deemed fit. As time went on castles became a symbol of power and less as a place of defense and population centers grew also known as cities. Castles and manors were functioning more like homes which needed furniture and craftsmen started to build more ornate pieces. Around the 1500's the trestle table became an important piece of furniture.

One trestle table was recorded to be 54 feet in length. Hence the advent of the refectory table, the name coming came from the room in the monastery or castle were used. This new type of table was known as a "joined" table because it was put together by the type of carpenter known as a joiner.

They were often made of maple, oak or pine. A modern style of the refectory table is know as the extension top or a draw table with leaves that are stored under the top and can be pulled out to extend the ends.

Trestle tables are an important part of Americana usually accompanied by spindle backed chairs. This modern version of the trestle is of a higher quality than the original often made of oak and braced with a stretcher beam. A keyed tenon runs through the center of each trestle and is typically supported by a waxed high-quality oak tabletop.

Modern finishes are much different than those of the Middle Ages as sandpaper didn't exist. Back then craftsmen had to scrape the pieces of wood together to get a smooth surface. Trestle tables took a lot of abuse in the old days and to achieve that look today you could take a chain and beat the finished piece to give it a distressed look. Years and years of feasts with kings and their courts resting their elbows on the tables wearing out the edges to give them their character.

Wood furniture in the Middle Ages was not stained or sealed. It was wiped with oily rags to pick up the scraps of food and dust that accumulated. Body oils from hands and grease from foods would soak into the wood. Just eating would be the seal that the table would naturally get.

Trestle designs were used by the military in the field, placed in wagons or used on ships. They were mentioned in writings by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC has a portrait of one in their collection showing it as one of the earliest examples as an art piece, an important piece of American history.

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