Antique Cutting Board - I

Found in a small village outside Lyon, this antique French cutting board was hand-carved from a single round of wood, with a short handle and a hole bored through it for hanging. Boards shaped like this lived in the kitchens of the Lyonnais countryside, used for everything that needed a flat surface, from bread to onions to whatever came in from the garden. The face is scored in every direction from a lifetime of knife work, the wood worn to a warm honey brown. Sylvie leans it against the wall behind a bowl of tomatoes, or lays it flat with a round of cheese and a small knife on top.