In the pastry shops and butcher counters of 19th-century France, the work was done on marble, cool to the touch and easy to wipe down between customers. Found in Avignon, this French table dates to the 19th century, a slab of white marble set on a cast iron base worked into scrolls and braced by a slender crossbar. Marble was the surface of choice for the trade because it stayed cold under pastry and clean under raw food, and the iron legs were cast to be both sturdy and fine enough for the front of a shop. Sylvie stands it against the wall by the bath, the cool marble holding a vase of peonies, a book left open, and whatever comes off at the end of the day.
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