Rare 19th c. Kitchen Island

The real work of a kitchen rarely happened at the stove but at a long table like this, where the chopping and the rolling and the kneading got done. Found in Belgium and dating to the 19th century, it runs long and low on bobbin-turned front legs, a thick plank top over a single divided drawer, with a pot board shelf below just off the floor. The low board was built to take the weight of the heavy copper, and a prep table this long with its bobbin turning and its board still intact is a rare thing to find whole. Sylvie sets it in the middle of a kitchen as an island, the drawer for tea towels, the board below for baskets and copper.