A rare shallow low rectangular black lacquer tray

Song to Ming dynasty

Song to Ming dynasty
with shallow everted sides rising from a plain foot, the lacquer undecorated and lightly crackled all over, the tray of an extremely light weight.
13 3/4 x 9 1/16in (35 x 23cm)

宋至明 黑素漆盤

With so little in the way of decoration to enable a specific dating of this lovely delicate tray, a wide dating parameter seems appropriate here. Whilst the extremely light weight, plain surfaces and delicate construction suggest a possible Song or Yuan production date, the overall profile might also suggest a Ming date of manufacture.

For a square tray of smaller size (7 inches across) dated to the Song-Yuan dynasty, see Christie's, Hong Kong, 27 November 2013, lot 3554, where it is compared to another in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition, China at the Inception of the Second Millennium: Art and Culture of the Sung Dynasty, 960-1279, Taipei, 2000, p. 165, no. III-19.