Antique Wood Inlaid Marquetry Communion Tray, Folk Art

Here is a wonderful piece of antique marquetry that you would be hard pressed to ever find again. This beautiful wood inlay piece is a church communion tray. It is made of several kinds of wood. Along the sides it has two stripes made of diagonal bands, with posts and crosses holding the two bands apart. There are accent blocks at the four points of the compass. The bottom has a screwed-in panel that can be removed to gain access inside. Holes are 7/8" in diameter, ranging from 1/2" to 1" apart. There are 48 total holes, with an occasional crack in the wood between them, as would be expected of thin wood this old. The finish is in excellent shape. Besides the obvious church collectible, this would also make a wonderful display piece for large marbles, golf balls, dyed Easter eggs, etc. Total size of the piece is about 12.75" by 15.75" by 1.5". I have three of these available.

For those of you interested in history these came from Cotner College in Lincoln, Nebraska. This was a religious studies school founded in 1889 by the Disciples of Christ church. It closed its doors in 1933. This is an extremely rare piece and beautiful example of folk art inlay work. I would challenge you to find anything like it anywhere on the internet. Ones this large and fancy rarely come up for sale. Most are plain wood and smaller, lacking the inlay work.

For more great items from Dayspring Collectibles, click this link to go to our Etsy main shop page: http://www.etsy.com/shop/dayspringcollectible

As always, buy more than one item from my shop and I'll combine the shipping. I don't make a profit on shipping like some sellers do. However, shipping calculators don't do well with combined orders, so you may get a partial refund of your shipping cost after you have paid for the order.

Keep in mind that many of my items are one-of-a-kind, and I have local customers looking at them. If you buy something that has just sold locally and wasn't yet removed, the order will be cancelled and your full payment returned to you, unless I have a similar item in stock. You can always contact me before your purchase to confirm the item is still available.