Early History of the Dining Table The origins of the word “table” are in the Latin word “tabula”, which means a “board” or a “plank”. The Egyptians made the very early dining tables. Strictly speaking, they were not dining tables. These tables were no more than platforms and used to keep objects off the floor.

The handmade Windsor chairs are the classics of English country furniture. It is one of the English regional chairs. Many designs of English regional chairs originated in the Thames Valley, for example, Buckinghamshire. It is possible that Windsor was a centre for distribution for the chairs. However, the origin of the name is not entirely clear.

Nothing makes a piece of hand-made furniture more appealing and special than intricate carving. Furniture makers have been carving furniture for hundreds of years to add dimension and beauty to wood furniture. Initially, early carvings were incised cuts and geometric in shape. Over time, as carving tools improved, patterns became more artistic. They often captured natural objects such as flowers, leaves and vines. Now you can find grape carving, acanthus leaves and roses on many pieces of traditional oak furniture.

An imposing oak four-poster bed is a centrepiece of any bedroom and is a feature in many English castles. So naturally, it would be safe to assume that it is a traditional English piece of furniture. However, historians tend to think that it was first made in Austria. Before they discovered a four-poster bed, English aristocrats had slept on boards set to trestles, with mattresses placed on top of the boards.