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[blank]There is a very traditional piece of French furniture that has found its way from a butchers store to many fashionable kitchens – it is the ‘billot de boucher’, (pronounced bee-o de booshay) or the butchers table.
They are prized and expensive pieces to find, generally built from large blocks of oak or hornbeam, and if they are genuine – and genuinely old – their table or counter top will be worn down and rounded away through years of use as a chopping block.[blank]
[blank]The photo below has done the rounds on pinterest, so I don’t even know where it originated, but it is a reproduction butcher’s table, hence the practical and flat counter top.
What is lovely in this copy is that they have gone to the trouble of reproducing the hand carved decorative edge along the body base.[blank]
[blank]Here in france there are still a couple of places where they make real billots de boucher, like this one made from solid hornbeam in the centre of France.[blank]
[blank]When we first moved to this village, our butcher used a billot just like this one below, with the steel bar attached to the back splash, a safe and handy way to store knives. Sadly the health and safety rules were stepped up, and it was no longer considered desirable to have meat cut on a chunk of wood …… hmmm.[blank]
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[blank] I’d be hard pushed to find one of these on a country fair, but I should think I could source one or two at the right dealers. Then I’d just need to find a space for it at home.[blank]
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[blank]all pictures sourced on Google images and pinterest and at Les Billots de Sologne[blank]
23 comments
OH La La!!! these are all brilliant! and to be able to get one's hands on an original one… truly a beauty ..xo HHL
All the items that were thrown out, are now coveted by the vintage collectors. What a shame, they were probabely cut up & burnt. Hope one day you can find an original.
don't make me choose PLEASE!!!!
how are you??
Those are really beautiful! I love them all but the last one grabbed my heart strings.
The French made BEAUTIFUL zoomorphic butchers cleavers. When I search for them online I usually find foxes but I have seen one blade top that was a horse. The tail of the animal becomes the handle. Usually with gorgeous wood rivited to the steel.
I've never seen or heard of the butcher's table. They're beautiful. xo Jenny
These are absolutely gorgeous! I particularly love the ones with the cattle head on it.
My husband and I have booked two weeks in Paris for August through Haven in Paris. Can't wait!!
Stunning + love the butchers tables. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com
Besides being functional before the law changed now they can be used as a decorative piece. How marvelous! Who wouldn't want one of these! 🙂
I love the well-worn table, so many years of chopping done there. How many feasts? How many clients? Really amazing.
I've heard that wood actually has antiseptic properties. I still use wooden cutting boards – separate ones for meat and for vegetables. But regulations rule here as well as in France!
I absolutely LOVE these. They're one of my number one e-bay browse requests – closely followed by French armoires! I find them and dream and plot how they will look in my dream kitchen – but alas, my kitchen cannot accommodate one at present…sigh!
Paula xx
A find like this is worth taking out new counters just so it could be added in. The great thing is that the butchers block could be used in so many different area's inside or outside of the house.
Oh to be so lucky to have or find one of them…not just only for function by beauty!
I think that I have only seen one, maybe two and those were at the professionals only antiques fair here. Sadly, we never had the space or the money otherwise…pounce!
Sharon! Ever since I first laid eyes on one in France years ago I have always wanted one. The first and last picture melts my heart!!!!!! Soooo beautiful. If I was lucky enough to find one at a decent price, I swear I would start chopping down walls if I had to just to accomodate one! They are stunning and bring a wonderful sense of the past to the present. LOVE THIS POST!
August?
I just learned something today. I had never seen one of these before. I can see why they would be so sought after, as they are beautiful. What a piece to pass from generation to generation.
We had a real French butcher block in our kitchen in NYC, sold it for a fortune. I wish I had kept it for this kithen since they are hard to find and very expensive.
Happy first day of summer!
XX
Debra~
The first one is truly beautiful, a marriage of art and functionality.
SO interesting!
These really are beautiful. Thank you so much for introducing me to such a wonderful piece of furniture!
Blessings,
Susie
I am excited to see this post. I saw one of these in a magazine some years ago. We just returned from a trip to Ft. Worth. We visited the local antique mall and they had a large one for sale. It was very impressive and I believe it was approximately $18,000. A bit over my budget!! But beautiful.
I live in Australia and am lucky enough to own an original french butchers block circa 1804..solid ..huge with two big drawers and under doors that lift and slide away. It has two long knife slots and what I assume was a sharpening piece between them. The back has a lovely metal bulls head.
Although it is very worn down it is so full of character…how I wish it could speak!!!!
I found o e if these in a thrift newspaper and RAN to the secondhand store to buy for 250.00 US! It has the cow’s head with horns, inlaid with the most beautiful intricate squares of butcher block, all of the detailing! Children didn’t want it when parents died and they brought it from France! Luckiest find EVER!