Tudor Counter Table, c.1525-1550
This is a rare example of a 'counter table' from the time of Henry VIII. It would have been used for counting money and doing sums in the city's counting-house. They were marked with a grid or had a chequered board or cloth to help counting. This is where the term 'counter' comes from, as in a shop counter. It is likely that this was made in Hull and kept by the city's corporation ever since. This is one of only a few known pieces of furniture called 'counter tables' or 'counter chests' by furniture historians. The term is relatively common in 16th century inventories and accounts. Very little information is usually mentioned. There are no known records of this particular counter table. In inventories from the 1500s, counters are often listed as having a compartment. These compartments may have offered storage for money and accounting ledgers. Hull's counter table is longer than other known examples. It is also decorated on all its sides which may mean it would have stood in the centre of a room. The drawers were added to it later, probably in the 1700s, as well as the hinged lid.
