The tray looks too big for the table imo.

I like the tray and the table individually but I too am wondering if that tray overpowers that little table. Is the tray nested into the table somehow? I'd be worried about stability especially with a lamp on it.

Very pretty pieces, but I can't tell if they work together as one unit. In the second photo, we're seeing it from an underneath angle, and the tray doesn't seem to fit well on top. It might look completely different when you place it where you intend to use it, though, and you can get a head-on look at it.

Could you possibly use the table and hang the tray on the wall behind it?

I'm not a design expert. I like both items, the tray and table. As others have said, I'd be worried about the stability of the larger tray. What if someone leaned or grabbed the edge and flipped the tray and its contents?

I think I would rather see a base with a round top more the size of the tray itself. The round and square look mismatched.

linelle, yes, a table with a round top would be ideal~check antique/thrift stores. Is the table stable? It looks as though it could be a bit wobbly, especially with the oversized tray. I did the same thing years ago, but I had saved a very heavy metal base from a glass top table. I bought 2 huge trays at a local swap meet for $5 each. They were so dark I thought they were copper, but cleaned up, turned into a shiny brass. I used one of the trays on the base, making an unusual table. I kept looking for another base because I wanted 2 tables in front of the sofa, but never found another base. I don't use the 'tray table' anymore, but can't bring myself to get rid of the trays or the base.

Like to see them sitting on this shape of base:

As my 3 year old grandson would say, "that's a hexagon shape".

I think the base Sombreuil posted would look great. But I much prefer the traditional folding wooden stands:

A friend flew with us to Panama and bought a table with stand (legs) at the free store in Panama, just like yours. It was supposed to be from India. She used her's as a side table (no lamp) or a coffee table....it looked so pretty. I am not sure I like it on the square table....is there any way you can build a platform (for want of a better word) under the short base/legs that came with the table to bring it up higher for a lamp?

I do have the original stand, which I will keep. It is low folding wood,
only 15” high. I can’t use that height, though. At that height the table has no
useful function. No one is going to sit on the floor to use it.

My friend was going to sell the tray table, and I knew I was going to regret
it once it was gone. I said I would take it only if I could find a table of the
height I needed that would work with it: fast!
I need it to hold a reading lamp and a cup of tea. My current table is
27 inches, perfect height, but way too big for the space, and wrong style (it’s
a modern brass console table).

Building a platform under the original legs would look awkward. I would have
to almost double the height. I mocked something up last week and it looked
really contrived.

When I saw this, perfect height and diameter, I asked myself, “What are the
odds I’ll ever find something better?” So I bought it. It was only $ 25. That’s
good around here for a table that is not hopelessly beat up and in need of
repair and refinishing.

Oddly enough, it is very stable. I didn’t see it til I got the table home,
but the top is slightly cupped. The slight curve of the brass tray fits right
into it. I was planning on securing the top with a ring of silicone caulk
anyway.

Consensus seems to be that it does not go. I will use it as it is, and hope
something better turns up in the next few years.

Patty cakes, interesting about your large trays. I have a huge rectangular
one I bought from a friend’s son over 20 years ago. He had tried to clean it
with brasso and got white residue in all the grooves, and gave up on it. It’s
ideal coffee table size. I have NEVER been able to find anything that would work
for a base. I still have it in the basement. I always hoped I would make some
legs someday. Or hang it on the wall. Or something. At this point, the coffee
table niche is long filled (with a 30” round brass tray table that HAS
its own base, and was already clean when I bought it.) But I still have not
gotten rid of the big rectangular one. Can’t bring myself to do it.

I’ll take another picture with it in place.

I think for your needs, the table and tray will be fine together. I was thinking that the table was actually TOO large for the tray. I bet everything looks better from a top angle, especially if it will be tucked between a corner and a chair or two chairs.

I have a similar problem. Bought a very large (38") brass table tray on Craigslist. No base. I am looking for a base about the height of yours, however as I want to use as a coffee table. Perhaps something a little taller. The bases that I have found are way too expensive, or they come with the tray already. Pier 1 has some Parisian bases that looked interesting and not too much money.

The lady that I bought the tray from said it was a wedding gift to her and her late husband when they were living in Liberia. Sweet story! She had disposed of the base awhile ago and the tray was hung on a wall. She no longer has a use for it as she was moving. The tray has different designs on it and it's very heavy. I noticed your table has a very large Star of David!

The lady did start to clean it and it has the white in the grooves. Does anyone have a trick to getting that out? Currently, the tray is on my screened porch. It reeked of cigarette smoke, so I wanted to air it out. Been out there all summer long.

On mine the motif in the center has 8 points, which is
design you see a lot on mosaics in Morocco
and the Moorish buildings in Andalusia in Spain.

For coffee table height I think you could also take a taller
round table and cut down the legs. Yours has Kufic Arabic calligraphy in the
center: neat! I have never seen that on one of these.

Interestingly, I did just find out what gets the white out
and cleans brass better than anything else. Brasso does not work well at all, I
have no idea why it seems to be the go-to suggestion. It only works on flat
things, takes a huge amount of scrubbing, and then leaves that white residue if
there is any texture at all. Plus the smell is terrible. My husband tells me the
Navy had recruits buy Brasso at the PX and use it to shine their buckles, etc.,
for daily inspection. So maybe the idea that Brasso was what to use was passed
down over generations of Navy people.

My friend wanted to shine up the table before he sold it
(that was before I said I might want it). His was almost black with tarnish,
plus had old white residue in the grooves. He knew that Brasso was not going to
work. He started randomly trying household products. The thing that worked the
best was…oddly enough…Lime Away spray, applied then rubbed with 0000 steel
wool. That is the finest grade, and provides some abrasion but will not scratch.
You cannot use a rougher kind, it will scratch (the lower the number, the finer the wires of
the steel wool). The Lime Away melted away the white stuff stuck in the grooves
too. Rinse with water (not hot or warm water, that accelerates tarnish)

Thanks so much for the Lime Away tip! I used a couple of different sprays trying to get rid of the smell. I wiped with a clean, soft cloth each time. Neither did anything for the white residue.

And thank you for pointing out the Arabic writing. I had not noticed that. I wonder what it says.

Sorry that I misread your "star". It was late last night when I glanced at your tray. ;)

My grandmother purchased a large brass tray and carved stand on one of her travels (then passed down to my parents and now in brother/SIL house.) When my parents passed away, the tray/table had been moved to the guest bedroom and was very tarnished. My SIL polished it to a beautiful shine. and placed it in her study. That's when I wished that I had taken it. LOL Anyway, that tray was not nearly as heavy as mine.

Kufic writing is a calligraphy style that is so stylized it
is very difficult to make out. It’s used more for its decorative purposes. You
see it a lot in stone on monuments. Really short inscriptions are usually
religious. Like, “In the name of God…” You could interpret that as meaning, have tea at this table under
God’s protection.

The Lime Away is a new discovery. CLR and other similar products may not work, I would just look for Lime Away itself. It's in a lime green bottle. I'd wear gloves for sure.

Then when you are done the piece should be lacquered. I'll be doing mine but I have to wait for the humidity to go down before spraying, or the coat will be cloudy. Therefore I will hit it all up with more Lime Away a day before.

Just a couple of words about these trays. The classic stand is shown in Errant's second picture. They were made to fold so that when the nomadic Bedouin moved their encampments the stands could simply be folded, placed among blankets, and loaded easily on the camels. They are traditionally low to accommodate a group of men sitting around them on the ground (no chairs in the desert) having coffee. I still use this combination if someone is over and we're having drinks in the living room, although we're on chairs - never had a tip-over yet!

I learned to clean these trays during my sojourn in the Middle East, in Israel and Jordan. Take coarse (kosher) salt and sprinkle it liberally on the tray. Then take half a lemon and scrub over the salt vigorously. It will take a few lemons, depending on the size of the tray. This always works for me.

Linnea - From the lack of writing on your tray I am thinking that it might be from India. And its pretty, floral design is popular in that region.

I have a brass try table with folding barley leg stand I’m trying to find the origin of the inscription it had made inEngland carved in bottom of wood leg stand.. I the center of the brass top I can’t makebout the symbol but closest I e found to resemble it is Moroccan but then it has grapes on the first circle around it then this is the part that gets me the third tiger is several types of people in each little scene it appears to be types of cultures farming ine loiks oriental the others I can’t tell but it’s slways two people in each scene wearing old timey clothes then it has small heats that go around on the trim and another design .. it’s thick 1 inch with a brass belt around it under is wood u can actually take it apart removing each board like tongue and groove .. no glue no nails or anything holding it together.. I would like any information I could just find out in the inscription I’ve searched for months I find tables made like it but both in resembling the inscription.. thanks

Brandy , you will get more replies if you start a new post, with pictures. My post is very old and might not get replies.