A monks bench or hutch table is a piece of furniture where a tabletop is set onto a chest in such a way that when the table was not in use, the top pivots to a vertical position and becomes the back of a
Settle, and this configuration allows easy access to the chest lid which forms the seat of the piece.
[monks bench (]British English
British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...
) or hutch table (American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
)
Overview
Percy Blandford notes that "whether monks ever used such a bench is debatable, but it is an attractive name".
A monks bench was a useful form at a time when many homes had a large room used for multiple functions, because it allowed a large dining table to swing up and out of the way.
Monks bench configured as a table.JPG, A monks bench configured as a table
Monks bench configured as a settle.JPG, A monks bench configured as a settle
Monks-bench-seventeenth-century.jpg, A monks bench from the 1600s
Chair-table MET 85E ACF119AR7.jpg, A similar chair-table from the 1600s
See also
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Onit chair
Notes
References
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*{{cite journal, last=Strickland , first=Calton , date=March 1953 , title=The Early American Hutch Table , journal=Popular Mechanics , volume=99 , number=3 , issn=0032-4558, publisher=Hearst Magazines , pag
165€“167
Benches (furniture)
Tables (furniture)
History of furniture
Furniture
Mechanical furniture