The present tray appears to be unique, as no other similar piece appears to have been published. It is possible that it was a specially commissioned piece, made to support a particular vessel for tea ceremony or for ritual. The carving is exceptionally fine, with every detail well rendered.

The shape of the tray is also very distinctive. The closest comparison to it is an undecorated Ming-dynasty brown lacquer tray with bracket lobes from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Lacquerware, Taiwan, 1987, pl. 90.