A kitchen table is a large, sturdy work and dining table made for use in the kitchen, typically of pine, sycamore, elm or oak, with a thick plank top and turned or square legs. In country houses and farmhouses it was the centre of food preparation, while in smaller homes it also served as the family dining table.
Antique kitchen tables are mostly of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, though many surviving examples are Victorian. Tops of sycamore or pine were often scrubbed with sand and water rather than polished, giving the pale, dry surface that is now highly valued. Bases were sometimes painted, and many tables have one or more drawers in the frieze for utensils. Large country house examples can be very long, made for busy servants' halls and kitchens. Collectors and buyers look for a thick, original top that belongs to the base, sound joints, legs that have not been shortened and an attractive patina from years of use. Replacement tops, later stripping and woodworm should be checked carefully. Today the antique kitchen table remains a favourite for country kitchens, bringing warmth, history and a practical, generous surface to the heart of the home.
