Wooden Furniture

So where did the Nicholas Dattner table come from?

I'm sure you have heard of a refectory table. It's the kind that monks sat at, guzzling wine and throwing bones over their shoulders.

It gets its name from the refectory, which was the dining hall of an institution such as a monastery, university or poorhouse. Typically, the tables in these places were very heavy and long, seating twenty people and more.

After four hundred years, a table has a certain lived-in look and survivors fetch spectacular prices. I have often wondered whether they are really worth the small fortunes some people are willing to spend. I have been to auctions and seen bidders paying huge sums for a table that on close inspection, is patently fake. Even if the table is genuine it has usually been repaired so many times that little of the original remains. Like grandpa's axe, six new handles and four new heads.