Accession Number
2005/1.468

Title
Mother-of-pearl inlayed lacquer tray with geometric designs

Artist(s)
Thai

Object Creation Date
19th century

Medium & Support
lacquered wood with mother-of-pearl inlay

Dimensions
3 3/4 in. x 11 1/4 in. x 11 1/4 in. ( 9.5 cm x 28.5 cm x 28.5 cm )

Credit Line
Gift of Doris Duke's Southeast Asian Art Collection

Label copy
March 28, 2009
This type of tray was used to hold paraphernalia associated with betel chewing, an important social custom in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. The tray could hold small boxes, such as the three elaborate nielloware containers nearby, in an elegant household of Thai royalty. The use of mother-of-pearl–inlayed lacquerware was widespread among royalty and monks in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
(Label for UMMA South and Southest Asia Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)

Subject matter
This type of tray was used to carry offerings to a Buddhist monastery or to place paraphernalia associated with betel chewing, an important social custom in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. The use of mother-of-pearl inlayed lacquer ware was widespread among royalty and monks in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Physical Description
A square shaped, wood tray with curved corners tray. The interior is red lacquered, and the exterior is coated with black lacquer with mother-of-pearl inlays in geometric shapes.

Primary Object Classification
Decorative Arts

Primary Object Type
lacquer

Additional Object Classification(s)
Decorative Arts

Rights
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Keywords
geometric motifs
inlays (decorations)
trays