Antique Cutting Board - I

A hole bored in the handle to hang it by the stove. Collected around the Rhône-Alpes, this large rectangular plank has a long straight handle and a pale, figured grain, split down the middle by one long crack from years of use. Boards like it hung by the bread bin in French kitchens, pulled down to cut the loaf and set back on the wall, and the deeper a board’s wear and cracks ran, the longer it had fed a house. Sylvie stands it on a counter behind the fruit bowl, or carries it out with bread, cheese, and a knife when people come by.