Antique Mahogany Brass & Copper Inlaid Tray-Top Table with Folding Legs

An antique mahogany tray-top table with a removable serving function — the gallery tray top releases from the folding cabriole-leg base via a side latch mechanism, transforming a side table into a two-handled butler's tray. The tray surface is decorated with brass and copper marquetry inlay in an Aesthetic Movement vocabulary: a central cascade of stylized roses, leaves, and small five-petal blossoms flanked by angular Greek-key corner brackets, with fine scrolling brass vines tracing the gallery rim. Carved wood handles at each end carry small inlaid quatrefoil motifs and brass strike plates marked "12."

The geometric corner frames paired with naturalistic floral sprays place this firmly in the late 19th to early 20th century Aesthetic Movement / Anglo-Japanese taste, when European and American makers borrowed Japanese spatial compositions and combined them with traditional European marquetry techniques. The folding cabriole legs and the removable tray format reflect the era's appetite for furniture that performed double duty in the parlor and packed away when not in use.

CONDITION

Fair. The release mechanism on one side of the tray is broken, and one handle shows an absent decorative element at its terminus. Age-appropriate wear throughout, including scattered loss and oxidation to the brass and copper inlay, light surface scuffs to the tray field, and minor finish wear to the legs and gallery edges. Tray seats on the base and lifts free on the functioning side.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 19½" H × 24" W × 14" D
• Materials: Mahogany with brass and copper marquetry inlay
• Construction: Lift-off tray with side-latch release; folding cabriole-leg base
• Hardware: Brass strike plate stamped "12"
• Era: Late 19th to early 20th century