BH | Studio Cortona Fluted Oval Dining Table

Fluting, the parallel grooves that run up a classical column, is an Italian inheritance as much as a Greek one: Roman builders carried it across their empire, and Etruscan hill towns like Cortona are older even than Rome. Late eighteenth-century England put the dining table on pedestals so a whole party could sit with no legs to dodge, and a fluted base turns that practical idea into a small piece of architecture.

This long oval table sits on two drum bases ringed with deep vertical fluting, set well in from the ends so chairs slide in without a leg in the way. Its top is engineered wood with a wood veneer whose grain runs the full length, and felt pads beneath the bases protect the floor. It seats six in comfort, and it is rated to 330 lbs, enough for a laden holiday table.

It is made for everyday meals and entertaining alike: breakfasts and homework in the week, Sunday lunches and birthday dinners for six at the weekend. Almond is light and natural and Chestnut a warmer brown, both a good match for chairs in cream or flax and a long linen runner, candlesticks and a low line of greenery down the middle. Put it in a dining room or a large kitchen, or use it as a generous worktable in a studio.