Antique Burmese Lacquerware Tray

Dimensions: 53cm diameter, 9cm high.
Code: WOOD 8721

This Burmese lacquerware tray was handmade by specialist artisans in Myanmar (formerly Burma) in the late 19th century/early 20th century. This fabulous, large red lacquerware tray was carved from a single piece of teak wood and covered in multiple layers of lacquer. This solid piece would have traditionally been used to serve fruit or smaller bowls of food, where people would sit on the floor to eat. Parts of the original sticker remain, showing it has never been used. It has a splendid, aged patina and is both a dramatic interior object and also useful. In very good condition, consistent with age.

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 Over time porcelain, plastic and metal have superseded lacquerware and very few of the workshops remain.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.