How fashion fell in love with the long table

At John Pawson’s Cotswolds farmhouse, in the open-plan, refectory-style kitchen that regularly hosts lunch parties of 12 or 14, a 3.6m-long table of the minimalist architect’s own design takes centre stage. Another, longer story was told in Italy, where Brunello Cucinelli, the king of soft-tailored munificence, launched his Autumn/Winter 2014-2015 collection by imagining an alfresco dining moment stretching down a cypress-hemmed avenue into the Umbrian hills. And beating them both to the punch, the house of Ferragamo hosted a dinner at Burlington Arcade back in 2012, with a single dining table running the 179m length of the covered Samuel Ware-designed shopping landmark, its tableclothed surface disappearing down the famous gentle gradient to Piccadilly.

The modern long table – whether dressed, candlelit or whiteclothed – has its roots in medieval monasteries, where the utilitarian, refectory-style table was first used by monks for communal dining during the 14th century. Leonardo da Vinci depicted the drama, scale and social reach of the long dining table in his Last Supper, painted a century later, but took artistic licence by arranging Jesus and his 12 disciples along one side of the table, when in reality, of course, they would have been sitting across from each other.

Today, the long table has moved beyond the army mess, garden fêtes and street parties to conquer civic banquets and grand receptions. At a wedding lunch or significant birthday bash, a single long surface negates the snooty, outdated notion of a “top table”. Here is a democracy in dining that cannot be achieved with myriad round tables and the attendant class system of the table plan. Instead, parallel placement encourages sitters to move freely (once the entrée plates have been cleared), without the worry of leaving gaping empty spaces.

The Connaught hotel in London currently stages regular, extended dining events in its private rooms; tablescapes of dreamy infinity, tessellations of candelabras, flowers, glass, silverware and linen glinting into the Mayfair distance. The long story continues…