Antique Cutting Board - I

Found in a small village outside Lyon, this antique French cutting board was hand-carved from a single thick piece of wood, square with softly rounded corners and an iron loop handle fixed to the top edge for hanging. Boards shaped like this lived in the kitchens of the Lyonnais countryside, used for everything that needed a flat surface, from bread to onions to whatever came in from the garden. The face is scored in every direction from a lifetime of knife work, the wood darkened where hands and food wore it smooth. Sylvie leans it against the wall behind a bowl of tomatoes, or lays it flat with a round of cheese and a small knife on top.