Featured Having a hard time finding an age on this tray, help!

Hello all, working on this tray today. Here is what I got,, very large tray, reverse painted glass with British Raj scene, small Indian boy servant and lady in mid 19th century dress. Colored fabrics behind the glass. Thick hardwood on sides and back. Back is affixed by old screws. Metal (brass?) handles. I can't seem to pinpoint an age, any help appreciated.

 

This is a guess: 1920's?

 

My guess too.

Debora

 

Thritto.

 

And I doubt it's literally meant to depict a British Raj scene.

Debora

 

Not very Indian with those shoes and long stockings.

 

Agree. A fantasy scene but one meant to evoke the Antebellum.

Debora

 

Thanks everyone! 1920s it is!

 

I'd have guessed a bit later, but this one looks professional. They printed the black paint onto the reverse of the glass, and put the foil under it. Later on, they made kits for folks to make their own scenes at home.

 

I think the little girl is wearing a hat that may resemble an Indian head dress.

 

Flapper turban.

Debora

 

I see a lot of these, as well as mirrors. The crinoline thing was also big in the forties and fifties, shows up on China a great deal. So this may be a bit later than the twenties, they hung on.

 

The reverse painted glass (the black with silhouettes) was very big in the 20s and 30s also.

 

I think this is actually transfer printed rather than all painted, as Ruth rightly says. It’s also not British Raj as a depiction. That’s a pageboy outfit.

 

The hollyhocks can be used to date it to too. Their peak popularity in the U.S. was the 1910s-1930s.

Debora

 

Thanks Debora! I just finished a book that had the fascination of hollyhocks in this era as part of the story. But the book had no pics, so I had no idea what they looked like

 

Good point, I meant to comment on the hollyhocks as also not being Raj!

They grow wild here.