Masterpiece Najeon White Peacock Oval Tray with Display Stand, 39 cm (Artisan Kim Young-man)

Overview

An oval tray, 39 cm at its widest, with a white peacock rendered in mother-of-pearl across the field — tail feathers fanned so the shell's iridescence does the work that pigment would do in a painting. It ships with its own wooden stand, which is the tell that this piece was made to be looked at rather than loaded with teacups.

Set upright on the stand it functions as a wall-facing panel; laid flat it still serves. Either way the peacock is the whole composition, not a border ornament.

Heritage & Craft

Oval trays are unforgiving to inlay: there is no straight edge to register against, so every shell fragment in the tail has to be cut to a curve that only exists once. The maker scores and snaps the nacre, sets it into the lacquer bed, then floods the surface and grinds back — a cycle repeated until the finish is glass-flat.

The peacock entered Korean decorative art as a symbol of dignity and beauty, often paired with the idea of an honourable reputation. In white nacre rather than tinted shell it reads cooler and more formal than the flower motifs that dominate this craft.

Artist

Made by Kim Young-man, a najeon artisan working in the traditional cut-and-set inlay method. The Korean source lists the piece under the studio name Rangjae.

Specifications

• Material: lacquered wood with natural mother-of-pearl inlay
• Motif: white peacock
• Form: oval tray supplied with a display stand
• Size: approx. 39 cm
• Origin: Handmade in South Korea
• Brand: K-Crafts | Code: KS-P0000LBP

Gifting

A display-first piece, so it suits people with shelf or console space to fill — a corporate presentation gift, a retirement marker, or a wedding present for a couple who would rather receive one large object than several small ones.