A parcel-gilt, dark brown and scarlet japanned tray table, the shaped rectangular outline with an elegant lobed edge. The surface decorated in gilt with tones of brown on a scarlet ground with birds in flight and perched among peony and other blooms issuing from rockwork, within a narrow border; mounted as a low table on an ebonised stand with gilt scroll ornament, serpentine apron and slender cabriole legs.

JAPANESE Edo/early Meiji period, mid-19th century; the stand Louis XV style c1980s

Dimensions: 45 cm high, 88 cm wide, 50 cm deep (approx.) — 17⅞ in. high, 34⅝ in. wide, 19¾ in. deep (approx.)

Provenance: Originally purchased from Mallet, Bourdon House, London, October 1989

The vivid scarlet ground and parcel-gilt flora-and-fauna reserve exemplify Japanese lacquer produced for export in the nineteenth century. In Europe, such trays were frequently adapted as furniture tops, marrying the exoticism of Asian lacquer with the sinuous profiles of Rococo-inspired mounts. The present example's later Louis XV–style stand Made by Mallett with its restrained gilt scrolls and attenuated cabriole legs, frames the panel to strong decorative effect while preserving the original tray's shaped rim and pictorial field.