18th-century mechanical dining table that lifts food from floor below

The Hermitage Pavilion in Peterhof Palace, St Petersburg, features an example of early 1700s luxury and culinary innovation.

From Superinnovators 29/08/24

Table mechanism on the lower floor, Peterhof Palace Hermitage Pavillion. Credit: Peterhof Museum

According to the Peterhof Museum, Russian Tsar Peter the Great built the Hermitage – the first of its kind in the country – after being inspired by similar structures he encountered in Europe.

The two-storey pavilion features a unique mechanical dining table designed to lift food from the floor below.

The table allowed guests to dine without servants’ presence, with food and dishes being raised on a central oval platform, as well as individual side plates around the outer rim.

This design ensured privacy during meals, aligning with the pavilion’s intended use as a retreat, but also shows, perhaps, how the aristocracy viewed their servants at the time.

Food being served during demo at Hermitage Pavilion in Peterhof Palace. Credit: elmira_ku_

The mechanism involved a counterweight system, activated by manually operated cranks, lifting the table through the floor.

Interestingly, the pavilion also includes dumbwaiters for smaller items, demonstrating the era’s engineering sophistication.

It looks like Peter the Great didn’t get to use it though, as it was finished after he died in 1725.

Moreover, the daughter of Peter the Great, Empress Elisabeth, outdid her father many years later.

Her Hermitage Pavilion in Tsarskoye, constructed in 1744-1754, features a larger rectangular mechanical dining table with a further four smaller mechanical serving tables around it.