This is a handmade Chinese lacquer wet tea brewing tray, with a smooth monochrome lacquer (一色漆) center surrounded by a black-and-red rhino skin lacquer (Xipi, 犀皮漆) border, by HFDlacquerware (禾丰鼎). At [尺寸], it is built for gongfu tea: a drainage outlet circles the center, carrying away spilled tea so you can pour freely.

Layer upon layer of natural raw lacquer (生漆) is applied by hand, then ground back until the rhino skin pattern surfaces, so no two trays are alike. It arrives in a gift box and makes a considered gift for someone who takes their tea practice seriously.

Look at it as a map. The plain center is an island, the tea maker's stage, where pot and cups are set down and the work is done. The rhino skin around it is the land. Between them runs the outlet, the water that keeps island and land apart, and lets each be what it is.

Also available: see the Rhino Skin Wet Tea Brewing Tray in Black & Gold.