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

During the Middle Ages the dormant table was a stationary trestle table covered with a carpet or a runner. In Medieval times monasteries had extremely lengthy trestle tables in their refectory or group dining room and they later became known as refectory tables. In late Middle Ages this type of table was the preference for banquets and feasts held in castles and big estates. These tables were crafted from strong wood for royalty and noblemen. What a good commission for a woodworker in those times.

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.

In the 16th century the plain trestle design was made more static and the gate-leg and refractory tables were created. With the ease of assembly and storage this design of table has been extremely popular to this day as those seated are not really effected by the legs of a traditional table with fixed corner legs.

Today the trestle table can be seen in designs of outdoor furniture like picnic tables to handcrafted Amish dining tables. Americana is a well-known and loved traditional Amish style as are Shaker and Arts and Crafts Mission style. Like the table of the Middle Ages, the Mission style is braced together using a stretcher beam and keyed tenon through the center of every trestle.

Modern finishes are far different than those of the Middle Ages as sandpaper didn’t exist. Back then craftsmen had to scrape the pieces of wooden together to get a silky 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 normally 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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