oh dear. If the cracking extends through the design layer to the tray, the two layers have merged and you are going to have a harder time. If the varnish has cracked and the design layer did not, they are not well-bonded. You might have to sacrifice a couple of trays in experimenting to see what can take the varnish/shellac off without removing the colors and gold leaf. Check them to see if the varnish was used on the back - if so, you can experiment there. If not, pick an open area of background color, away from the designs. I would look into books on tole painting from the 1940s-1960s era they were done to see what materials they recommended for sealing. Then test each solvent listed for those materials to see if you can remove the yellowed layer without affecting the design. It's possible that someone other than the creator did the topcoating, in which case the design layer would have been well-cured and perhaps waxed. One method for removing a badly adhered top layer from solid underlying layers is "spooning" ... gently tap the piece with the bowl of a teaspoon to crack and flake it off.

You could wash it in a tri sodium phosphate and hot water solution. Or, if you have the option, you could set it up outside, build a hot fire in it, and let the coating and schmutz burn off.

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Pictured here is my previous old country farm home that had the wide spaces of sub floor only in the kitchen. It gives you an idea of what we like. Each room had slightly different wood because the rooms were added as the family grew but they were all close to the same shade. We put 3 coats of poly on all the floors. Easy to clean and what collected in the spaces even in the kitchen came up with normal vacuuming. It also had stains but only around the perimeter & uniform so it still looked great in our opinion. Thank you for your ideas! A more modest family built our current country farm home. It is better for just the 2 of us now yet room for visiting family/grandchildren. This is a very strong sub floor and there are signs they had some kind of the original linoleum over it until it was removed & used as a kid's hangout in the 60's. A pro historic floor refinisher said they are too cupped to use a drum sander...it would take too much wood off to take the cupping out & make the floor too weak. He suggested painting it. Ugh. Even as a sub floor we love the look of the natural wood and it was plenty warm even with our 28-34 degree winter. The pictures of the stained floor in question might not be the 1800s original floor since this was a back porch that had been enclosed when more children were born, as was the dogtrot. The pro said only the original 2 rooms off the dogtrot are heart pine and this is antique pine. I'll post pictures of the stains & poly experiment in what will be the linen closet when it is dry. I'd love to hear your opinion of it.