AN OTTOMAN MARKET TOLE WARE TRAY, RUSSIAN, LATE... Lot 52

AN OTTOMAN MARKET TOLE WARE TRAY, RUSSIAN, LATE 19TH CENTURY oblong, red ground set with a large shaped panel of an overpainted print of waterfront 'yalis' (villas) near Constantinople, the foreground with an Ottoman flagged paddle steamer puffing past two traditional Bosphorus caïques, surrounding gilt border with two floral reserves and floral spandrels, typical riveted brass loop handles, 67cm long Such ornamented trays became an essential item for dispensing hospitality in any self-respecting household of the emerging bourgoisie in the late 19th century Ottoman and Greek world. Whilst manufactured abroad, many apparently in Russia, the trays produced for the Ottoman market often show a distinct lack of human figures, the central scenes probably after Turkish supplied designs.