{{Short description|Multipurpose furniture piece}} 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.<ref>'''monks bench''' (British English) or '''hutch table''' (American English)</ref>{{sfn|Pearson|1985|p=39}}{{sfn|Carney|1950|p=97}}

==Overview== Percy Blandford notes that "whether monks ever used such a bench is debatable, but it is an attractive name".{{sfn|Blandford|1982|p=132}}

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.{{sfn|Strickland|1953|p=165}}

<gallery> 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 </gallery> ==See also== * Onit chair {{commonscat}}

==Notes== {{reflist|2}}

==References== *{{cite book|last=Blandford |first=Percy W. |year=1982 |title=Constructing tables and chairs&mdash; with 55 projects |edition=illustrated |publisher=Tab Books |isbn=978-0-8306-1424-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PGg_PV4RDqMC&q=%22This%2Bis%2Ba%2Bpiece%2Bof%2Bcombination%2Bfurniture%22 132]}} *{{cite book|last=Carney |first=Clive |year=1950 |title=Furnishing art and practice |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9FE_AAAAYAAJ&q=%22Monks+bench%22 97]}} *{{cite book|last=Pearson |first=Lu Emily Hess |orig-year=1957 |year=1985 |title=Elizabethans at Home |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-0494-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/elizabethansatho0000pear/page/39 39]}} *{{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 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=t9wDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA165 165]–167}}

Category:Benches (furniture) Category:Tables (furniture) Category:History of furniture Category:Furniture Category:Mechanical furniture