Many of today’s tables are designed after the trestle table which dates back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It was the popular style in the 14th century. A very practical design, it is simply a matter of laying a few boards across two stands. You will see this design employed in modern day picnic tables to Amish hand-crafted dining tables.

The trestle tables built by the Amish are very well known for their craftsmanship and are a traditional Americana design of furniture often seen with spindle backed chairs. Amish wood craftsmen have kept the tradition alive and modern homeowners can acquire beautifully crafted pieces at affordable prices. It is the oldest American dining table and quite possibly the oldest design the world over. Shaker and Craftsman style furniture also employ this same design aesthetic.

Designs ranged from plain and very utilitarian to very regal and ornately decorated. Sawbuck, melon-turn and slab-side were the popular choices of style. Sawbuck is an X-shape support system, a sawbuck device used in holding the wood is where the named derives from. Melon-turned was spherical and very ornate rounded post ends, a predecessor to the pedestal design. The slab-sided design is slabs of wood possibly decorated and placed vertically holding the ends up between the trestles.

The sawbuck design was a popular Gothic choice but usually found in New England tables because of its rustic and functional style. Another American version of this came from the Delaware Valley of Philadelphia where German-Swedish craftsman created highly decorated pieces.

Today the trestle table can be seen in designs of outdoor furniture like picnic tables to handcrafted Amish dining tables. Americana is a well-known and loved traditional Amish style as are Shaker and Arts and Crafts Mission style. Like the table of the Middle Ages, the Mission style is braced together using a stretcher beam and keyed tenon through the center of every trestle.

These pillars were sometimes just plain and other times ornately decorated. Very few medieval tables exist today, but a fine example can be viewed in the Great Hall of Penshurst Place, Kent where a pair has been in existence since the 15th century. Something of this caliber, if you were lucky enough to find it, would be priceless.

The predecessor to the trestle table was called the table board and frame style, being a long plank of wood resting on a frame of several trestles also called horizontal beams. The legs were designed to be easily dismantled for storage and were very practical for travelling. The bridges of wood were pegged and braced to he tabletop.

With its two pedestals fastened to a horizontal stretcher with stout tenons and locked into place with wedges the trestle table is born. For a little Gothic twist, add an arched stretcher with cut stopped champhers in the legs and the stretcher.

Get a gorgeous trestle table to your home. A gorgeous choice of any trestle tables would add a fantastic look to your dining area. Go online and find your table now.