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Restaurant Sideboard, Helsinki, Finland

Date2000, printed c. 2002

MediumChromogenic color print

Dimensionsimage: 18 × 12 in. (45.7 × 30.5 cm)
sheet: 19 15/16 × 15 15/16 in. (50.6 × 40.5 cm)

Credit LineGift of Daniel Calacci, 2003

Object number2003-30.5

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Label TextIn 14th century Europe, food was brought to the table in upper-class households on platters called "chargers." In front of each diner was a six-inch square piece of bread that was about four days old and known as a "trencher." The diner took the food he or she wanted from the charger and placed it on their trencher. Sometimes the trencher was set on top of a block of wood or metal with a slight indentation in the center—quite helpful if you were cutting a sauced or moist food with a knife.

During the 1500s, Italians began using round trenchers which eventually evolved into the European plate. Soups and stews were served in bowls with one bowl to be shared by each male and female couple.
—Burt Wolf