Antique Cutting Board

Every scratch across it came from a knife and a loaf of bread. Collected around the Rhône-Alpes, this thick rectangular plank carries a metal handle fixed along its top edge, one face scrubbed pale and smooth and the other opened up with dark knots and long cracks from years at the table. Every French kitchen kept a board like it, the planche à pain, cut for the daily loaf and carried to the table with the bread, worn a little deeper with every meal. Sylvie leans it against the kitchen wall when it is not in use, and lays it out with bread and cheese when it is. Each one is different, no two boards quite alike.

Minor variations from the images may occur unless otherwise noted. All sales are final.