French Country · Encyclopedia · The Cabinetmakers' Work
Hanging cutlery rack
Cutlery racks from central Brittany, made of turned uprights between oak slats, hung above the table and raised or lowered on a cord at mealtimes. They are now rare.
French: porte-couverts · Central Brittany · turned wood, oak
At a glance
- Region: central Brittany
- Materials: turned wooden uprights, oak slats
- Use: storing spoons and cutlery above the table
- Mechanism: a cord running back and forth
What it is
The porte-couverts is a hanging rack in which spoons and other cutlery were stored. Turned uprights are set between oak slats, forming a light, open frame.
A cord running back and forth let the household lower it at mealtimes and raise it out of the way afterwards.
Breton table customs
In many Breton farmhouses, each member of the household had his own spoon, often of wood or horn. Keeping the cutlery hanging above the table kept it clean and close at hand. The book stresses that these racks are sought for their originality and are rare today.
Collecting and displaying it
Look for original turned uprights and slats with old wear. Cords are almost always replaced.
Hung in a kitchen or dining room, a cutlery rack can display old spoons or hold herbs and utensils.
Source: Les Trésors de France: vieux métiers et objets d'autrefois (Éditions Rustica, Détours en France collection, 1995), pp. 124–129, with general background on the object. The book was published in 1995, so workshops, people and figures are described as they were then. Regional names and dates are given as the book records them; a style or a region of origin does not by itself date an individual piece.