This is a handmade Chinese lacquer display tray in a scalloped sunflower form, with a black-gold rhino skin lacquer (Xipi, 犀皮漆) center and a solid black rim, from the Chong Series by HFDlacquerware (禾丰鼎). Made first to be looked at, it is presented on a stand or set out on a sideboard, console, or shelf, where it holds a room on its own. On special occasions, it can also serve fruit, mooncakes, or seasonal offerings.

Each Chong Series piece takes two to three years to build. The rhino skin pattern is never carved or painted: the lacquer is mounded and built up coat after coat, each left to dry slowly before the next, then ground and polished until what was hidden in the layers finally surfaces. No two trays share the same center, which makes it a collector's piece and a considered gift for someone who values things that took real time to become what they are.

Gold is the sunflower in full bloom. The black rim is the green around it — what lets the gold stay brilliant without turning gaudy. And the rhino skin center is the fruit: like anything that ripens, it needed wind, sun, and a whole summer's patience. Gold is one instant of bloom. Rhino skin lacquer is what settles, and stays, after the bloom is gone.