Burmese Lacquer Tray 01

This is an elaborately detailed Burmese black, red, orange and green lacquerware tray. The tray is densely decorated with the 'nan-dwin' (King at Court) design that depicts the king holding an audience, flanked by two courtiers. The king wears elaborate court costume and is shown seated in a courtyard in front of a wooden palace that is elaborately engraved. They are all shown seated in front of the palace, with two coconut trees on either side and an elephant on the upper panel. The scene is enclosed by an oval band of black with engraved red flowers. On the rim is another floral border with two panels of black at the top and bottom, with Burmese engraved writing of the master craftsman’s name and where it was made. On the right and left sides is a darker black and green floral design to offset these. The back of the tray is mostly black, with fine cream lined and a scalloped border. Beyond this is a red band with Tamil Initials added later - this is because the Chettiars typically belonged to large joint families, with each branch of the family owning very similar objects of their diasporic heritage. It was important to etch their belongings (valuable or utilitarian) with initials, clearly indicating ownership. In the centre of the back is a goldfish design with the name ‘Goldfish Brand’ next to it etched in Burmese writing. Curving around this in Burmese, it says ‘’The Best Lacquerware”.