Three-Tier Wooden Cake and Fruit Stand

About this piece

Three-Tier Wooden Cake and Fruit Stand — three turned tiers with brass inlay, under a ring handle. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and brass and inlaid with brass, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. It measures about 16 in tall. It costs PKR 2,850. It is ready to ship and delivered within 3 to 4 days anywhere in Pakistan, paid in cash on delivery.

Three round tiers turned from sheesham and set one above the other on a turned centre post, with a carved ring at the top to lift and carry the whole stand. Small brass flowers are inlaid into each tier, so the plates carry a little pattern without anything being painted on them. Every tier is turned on the khraad from solid wood and the post is turned to match, so the stand comes apart and goes back together by hand — which is how it stores flat between occasions instead of taking a shelf all year. The brass is set into the wood and polished flush, not stuck on top. It is made for a table with people around it: cake and biscuits at a birthday, dry fruit and mithai at Eid, fruit on a dining table, or sandwiches and samosas at high tea. It lifts from the ring without disturbing what is on the tiers. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha, and turned individually, so grain and colour vary between tiers and between stands. Wipe with a dry cloth, use a plate or paper under anything oily, keep it out of standing water, and do not put it in a dishwasher.

Every piece is made by hand, so the wood grain, carving and colour vary a little from the photo. That variation is normal and is what makes each one its own.