French Cutting Board

Found in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, this late 19th-century French board was cut from a single pale plank, its surface gone soft and golden under a century of knife work. A raised lip runs along one edge, the detail that gives it away as a bread and pastry board; the lip braced against the table so the board stayed put while a loaf was sliced or dough was turned, and it caught the crumbs as they fell. Every mark on the face is from real use, the fine criss-cross of a kitchen that ran on bread. Sylvie leans it against the wall behind a bowl of fruit, or lays it flat under a warm baguette and a knife when people come to eat.

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