English: Trencher

probably 1500-1700;
England
Square trencher, of unpainted beech or sycamore, with a large, central, circular depression (with concave moulded edge) and at one corner a small turned circular depression (for salt). With minor surface, abrasions and a dark applied finish (such as shellac and blacking).

Before about 1500, trenchers were made of large sections of bread, usually several days old, which took the place of individual plates. Diners filled their trenchers with food from large platters placed in the centre of the table. By the end of the fifteenth century, however, particularly in northern Europe, trenchers were more commonly made of wood or pewter, and wooden trenchers remained in use into the 19th century alongside pottery plates. Salt could be placed in the small cavity at one corner of this trencher.

Although this trencher was probably turned on a pole-lathe of the type used in medieval England, the lack of wear on it suggests that it may have been made as late as the 18th century, or possibly later as a replica object.