Made from chi-ch'i-mu (chicken feather) hardwood, this square stationary tray typifies the trend toward increasingly elaborate forms during the eighteenth century. The decoration of the pierced sides is a recurring pattern of scrolling foliage repeated on each side with a central lotus in the middle flanked on either side by stylized dragons. Trays such as this held all sorts of materials used by scholars and were common accoutrements of the writing desk.