Antique Oak Refectory Dining Table

English trestle table, 16th century. Trestles are joined at the stretcher and tabletop.

Table with two free-standing four-legged trestles. Château de Beynac, France.

American trestle table, 18th century

Trestle tables with free-standing trestles in the c.1955 microbiology lab of Joseph Lister.

A trestle table is a table consisting of two or three trestle supports, often linked by a stretcher (longitudinal cross-member), over which a board or tabletop is placed.^[1] In the Middle Ages, the trestle table was often little more than loose boards over trestle legs for ease of assembly and storage.^[2] This simple, collapsible style remained the most common Western form of table until the 16th century, when the basic trestle design gave way to stronger frame-based structures such as gateleg and refectory tables.^[3] Ease of assembly and storage has made it the ideal occasional table, and it remains a popular form of dining table, as those seated are not so inconvenienced as they might be with the more usual arrangement of a fixed leg at each corner.

Construction and uses [edit]

Trestle tables figure prominently in the traditional Americana style of household furnishings, usually accompanied by spindle-backed chairs.^[4] The trestles in this case are normally of much higher quality, often made of oak and braced with a stretcher beam using a keyed tenon through the centre of each trestle. These typically support a high-quality waxed oak tabletop.^[5] Trestle tables are also used in the event furniture industry, they are the main table used at weddings and other types of venues today.^[6]

Heraldry [edit]

The trestle (also tressle, tressel and threstle) is (rarely) used as a charge in heraldry, and symbolically associated with hospitality (as historically the trestle was a tripod used both as a stool and to support tables at banquets).^[7]

References [edit]

^ Webster's Third New International Dictionary
^ "Blackburn, G. (n.d.). A Short History of Tables. Retrieved from Fine Woodworking.com".
^ Gordon Campbell, The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts Vol 2, Oxford University Press US (2006) p411
^ http://www.shaker.net/html/trestle.html Examples of modern trestle table and chairs
^ http://www.oldandsold.com/articles03/hf1.shtml Americana-style trestle table
^ "Trestle Table History". Strictly Tables and Chairs . Retrieved 2016-06-02 .
^ ^a ^b Guillim, John. "A Display of Heraldry" 1724

External links [edit]

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Historical reference at Bartleby/Columbia Encyclopedia
Photos of a trestle table broken down into individual components at RL Goins

Antique Oak Refectory Dining Table

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trestle_table

Antique Oak Refectory Dining Table