Antique Burmese Lacquerware Divided Serving Dish

Dimensions: 12.5cm diameter, 2.5cm high.
Code: WOOD 6421

This black and red Burmese lacquerware serving dish was handmade by specialist artisans in Myanmar (formerly Burma) in the late 19th century/early 20th century. This small dish has three compartments and is similar in design to a lahpet-ok. These are traditional shallow dishes that have multiple compartments for serving accompaniments to lahpet (pickled tea). These may include fresh chilli, sesame seeds, fried garlic, peanuts, fresh tomato and lemon or lime wedges. The serving dish has red lacquer on the inside and black on the outer sides and base. In good condition, with minimal wear for its age, there are just a few minor chips and marks. It also makes a lovely and useful trinket box, perfect to pop your jewellery into on a bedside table.

Yun-de, or lacquerware, is an ancient craft of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It was made using an elaborate and technically complex process by master craftsmen starting with gathering the sap from the varnish tree or thitsee that grows wild in the local forests. The finished objects are all handmade and the designs are engraved free hand. It may take three to four months to finish a small vessel but sometimes over a year for a larger piece. The lacquerware came to India through the Chettiar trading community who took up residence in Burma during the 19th and 20th centuries. The traders kept their links with their home region of Chettinad in Tamil Nadu, South India and often went back for family events and festivals. Their ancestral homes were filled with lacquer vessels from Burma. In Burma the lacquerware was used by royalty, monks and commoners, indeed it was ubiquitous. Over time porcelain, plastic and metal have superseded lacquerware and very few of the workshops remain. The antique pieces are in high demand from collectors across the world.