Found in Avignon, this 19th-century French church bench came from a country chapel where a single row of these would have lined the side aisles for the village congregation. The oak is darkened from a hundred and fifty years of Sunday wear, smoothed at the edges where hands gripped the back rail and shined along the seat where people sat through long services. The simple shape was standard for rural French church seating and was made by local carpenters rather than imported from city workshops. Each end panel is carved by hand with a fleur-de-lis at the base, the symbol that in France has marked everything from royal banners to country church furniture for centuries. Sylvie places it in an entryway for pulling on shoes and dropping off bags after a long day.
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