French Country · Encyclopedia · The Cabinetmakers' Work
Shepherd's settle-table
A fir bench blackened by years beside the fire, placed by Pyrenean shepherds at the corner of the hearth with its back to the door. Its high back blocked the cold, and a flap folded down to make a table at mealtimes.
French: banc-table · Pyrenees · fir
At a glance
- Region: Pyrenees
- Material: fir
- Use: seating by the hearth and table for meals
- Feature: high back, fold-down tablet
What it is
The banc-table is a bench with a tall back and a hinged tablet. Placed at the corner of the hearth with its back to the door, it protected the sitter from draughts.
At mealtimes the tablet was folded down, and the bench became a table where the meal could be laid.
A piece of folk art
Its fir is darkened as much by long years beside the fire as by age. The book praises these pieces for their sober lines and notes that they are much appreciated today.
Collecting and using one today
Check the hinges of the tablet and the solidity of the seat. Old smoke-darkened surfaces should not be stripped.
A settle-table makes a cosy breakfast nook in a kitchen or a seat by a wood stove.
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.