Oromo Coffee Sorting | Low Table

Ethiopia is the homeland of coffee. Before the roasting pan, someone had to sort the beans, and a surface like this one is where it was done by hand.

This long, low table is from the Oromo peoples, made in the late 19th or early 20th century. The top is carved from a single slab of wood more than five and a half feet long, with a shallow raised lip that turns gently upward at each end. Four short, tapered block legs near the ends support it. The deep brown surface is softened and darkened by decades of handling.

It sits low and waits. Put a pot of coffee on it. It will understand.