Featured Japanese lacquered tray with fan patterns

Lovely tho the legs of the top elephant are slightly different, wonder if that’s intentional!

 

another one with almost identical mark with difference in the execution of feet:https://www.zacke.at/auction/lot/11...-kobako-with-cranes-and-pine/?lot=20288&sd=1#

 

is it possible to tell the age of this one... I was told it was brought out of Vietnam , after the war..

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late 20th century? And also they might not be natural lacquer as they start to use artificial resin and plastic around that time with cheaper products for both domestic and international market

 

here a box with identical pattern- the red mark probably is copied from a know artwork, maybe not maker’s mark: https://jp.mercari.com/item/m35665829521

 

I'm seeing this described as 1970's....

 

interesting..... good find !
do they offer any mfg date ?

 

Nah. I find many of them just don’t care about date… many stuff they offered are often labeled as ‘old’ while being a genuine Edo antique

 

Those modern trays are pretty but mass produced. We were given a similar one as a wedding present.

 

I think all this work is amazing. Just maybe a tray might not be as usable as a box? I only say this because I collect anything that's antique Nagina or Hoshiarpur but I do keep in mind how it would fit in a modern home, a good example is an ink stand, often ink stands come in antique Anglo-Indian form and if they were a box I would snap them up but these days not many people display ink stands because they are big and very out of date. Saying that I have both in my collection lol but I do try and avoid them just because they aren't as desirable as something still in use today.

 

https://noman.angelgood.baby/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=564861

 

I agree that a box would be more tempting to collectors, but as long as it’s an affordable beauty I don’t mind a bit more diversity, as boxes tend to be higher in price for the said reason after all, 9 out of ten of the boxes I have are just left empty there. And a tray makes good decorative wall hanging too, while you don’t need to worry too much about getting scratches and dents here and there. But yes I will go for boxes if I have the right budget for one, so probably next time

 

Shamster, that tray is absolutely stunning. I would hang it on the wall, too. I'd see it more often that way. I think the Dutch East India company must have been the Amazon of its day.

 

I'm sorry, I didn't see the size of your tray before, it's tiny and not the tea tray size I was thinking it was. This makes all the difference, very collectable indeed.

 

Thank you these trays are often lightweight and I have seen a few top quality trays converted to wall hanging art by European collectors. But some of them are nailed which is kinda cruel… guess I will find a butterfly frame for it then!

 

I would actually hope I get a tea tray most of the finest trays are in bigger size, and the amount of detail included is crazy, i.e. this one as my dream piece. Also they are quite lightweight and can easily be fixed to the wall, so just enjoy it as a painting

 

You can see straight away that this is a truly high quality piece.

 

And I can’t imagine these details being finer