English Victorian Hand-painted Lacquer Papier Mache Crumb Tray 19th Century

A hand-painted Victorian crumb tray with a design of violets and primroses.

 

Layered paper or cardboard was coated with a thick black lacquer and then hand painted with paints in a sampling of British flowers like bluebells, primrose, violets and snowdrops. The painting is good enough to identify the flowers. The crumber has a ridged and scalloped top and a flat edged base end. There is a round hole at the top for hanging.

 

The number 6461 is molded into the back.

 

 

8 5/8” (21.9 cm) tall x 8 3/8” (21.1 cm) wide x 1 ¾” (4.4 cm) deep. Weighs 6.7 oz (190 g)

 

 

There are lacquer losses to the bottom corners, two of the raised ridges that form scallop shapes in the cavetto and a couple of small spots on the back. There is wear throughout, including losses to the paint one leaves of the snowdrops and to one of the primrose flowers.

 

A fun crumber to add to your Victorian aesthetic. Now if you only had your own Jeeves use it to clean up those crumbs.