diff --git a/src/mesh/ItemArray.hpp b/src/mesh/ItemArray.hpp
index 175537ef27f1d48123f83b0db9a951042b6ceb0e..f29947d8c37e7d3ba4a8b92a316b9f87d04767e2 100644
--- a/src/mesh/ItemArray.hpp
+++ b/src/mesh/ItemArray.hpp
@@ -43,6 +43,13 @@ class ItemArray
   friend ItemArray<std::remove_const_t<DataType>, item_type, ConnectivityWeakPtr>;
 
  public:
+  // This is not the correct way to look at ItemArray, use with care
+  Table<const DataType>
+  tableView() const
+  {
+    return m_values;
+  }
+
   [[nodiscard]] friend PUGS_INLINE ItemArray<std::remove_const_t<DataType>, item_type, ConnectivityPtr>
   copy(const ItemArray<DataType, item_type, ConnectivityPtr>& source)
   {