Japanese Serving Tray with Conifer or Pine Motif

Square tray in shadow with golden pine-like needles and one fat cone.

This lacquered wood serving tray with conifer or pine motif is from Japan, and dates to the 20th century. Pine, or matsu, is among the most familiar motifs in Japanese decorative art, where it is generally associated with longevity and endurance because it stays green through winter. Black-brown square tray with a thin gilded border. Fan-like sprays of fine golden needles reach down from the upper left, around a plump rounded cone near the center. The needles are drawn in hair-thin lines and the ground is matte. It is 10.5 inches wide and 10.5 deep.

A forest reduced to one tidy branch.