An exercise in Gothic

Taken from the collection of The Antique Breadboard Museum, Putney:

“Take freely and thankfully”, elegantly incised in Gothic lettering with leafy tendrils playfully interspersed between the words. Like the vast majority of bread boards, no evidence of the workshop, carver, date or location is indicated.

Sizeable crack, sycamore, 12″, 1800s.