Object Literature
The Trestle table is probably the earliest form of wood dining table and is an early achievement of structural engineering, being portable yet sturdy. It was became very popular in the middle ages when castles and forts were designed to protect a large group of people. A common room could be used to for activities and dining by setting up two trestles and a large slab of wood on top. The table could then be disassembled and the room could then be used for dancing or games. When it came time to sleep folks could lay out straw mats and use the room as a bedroom. This Victorian example has a tavern table feel and the painted ends may suggest a use beyond the norm, though we could only speculate as to what that may be; we have never seen this before on a table top.
An attractive and relatively early example of a trestle table with a wonderful colour and a quirky twist.