The carving depicts a Japanese beauty from Heian period. Small cut long eyes, button nose, round face were the ideal attributes of female beauty in the Heain period. The tray was made without coating, so that the hand-carved wood felt pleasant to the touch. Marking on the back side reads, 日光　-　Nikko Early 20th century wood carving from Nikko (literally meaning sunshine or daylight) a small city in Japan’s Tochigi Prefecture.