Trays

Tea in Isfahan, sweets in Damascus, offerings in a Chinese household: all of it arrived on a tray. Antique trays in lacquer, brass, wood and tole come from China, Japan, India, the Middle East and Europe. Japanese lacquer trays, Chinese red-lacquered offering trays, hammered and engraved brass trays from Morocco, Damascus and Isfahan, and painted tole from England and France were made for tea, offerings, sweets and serving. Engraved arabesques, gilded borders and rubbed edges show long use. A large brass tray on a folding stand serves as a low table in the old Ottoman way; a small lacquer tray in a bathroom niche gathers a glass carafe, a candle and a cake of soap into one still life. Civilization, carried level.