A LARGE IRANIAN SILVER TRAY
Isfahan, Iran, ca. 1940 - 1960, mark of Mahmud Rabi‘i

Of rectangular shape, resting on a flat base, with a gently raised rim with embossed decoration on each rounded corner and in the centre of each side, the tray densely engraved with motifs characteristic to the decorative repertoire of Iranian silver including a lobed rosette medallion in the middle filled with interlocking split palmette scrolls, fleshy leaves and stylised flowers, several pairs of birds against a dense vegetal ground, knotwork bands around the outer borders, rosette and stylised lotus flowers as fillers, stamped at the back with the maker's mark 'Mahmud Rabi‘i', the assay mark '84, and the retailer's mark 'PH' (Pirayesh, active in the 1960s and 1970s), 53cm x 38cm.