HISTORY OF THE SALVER & TRAY
What Is A Salver
A salver is a fancy serving tray usually made of silver.
Silver salvers are rich in history. These products have been around for centuries and were used by royalty at some point.
People used silver salvers during the 16th century to keep royals from being poisoned. In a royal or noble household, the fear of poisoning led to the custom of tasting the food or beverage before it was served to the master and his guests; this was known as the assay of meat and drink and, in Spanish, was called Salva.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, salvers indicated people’s wealth. The more intricate the designs were, the more money a person had.
What Is A Tray
The word tray is derived from the Middle English word ‘treg’ or ‘trig’ , meaning ‘flat board with low rim’. A tray is a flat, shallow container made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, used for carrying or displaying related items.
The Difference Between Trays And Salvers
Salvers and trays are easily confused, although they are separate items with individual histories and purposes. The Salver is a small dish, usually crafted from silver. Salvers are mostly round, with some being rectangular and a few being more unique shapes, such as octagonal.
A primary difference between trays and salvers is the use of handles. Trays, mainly used to transport tea sets with many individual components, needed handles to be genuinely effective. Salvers were traditionally only used to transport food for a small group of people, if not just a single individual, so handles were not required.
Salvers are essentially trays without handles, with some salver designs also incorporating feet. English, Irish and Scottish silver salvers date back to the early seventeenth century. Samuel Pepys (1633 – 1703) is recorded as an owner of a salver, signifying his high social standing.
During the eighteenth century, the popular style of the tray was a simple oval shape featuring reeded molding and loop handles. By the nineteenth century, carrying handles were being added to large-sized salvers to accommodate the increasingly weighty tea and coffee services that the members of society preferred with higher social standing.
Dressing table tray
In the early nineteenth century, long, oblong trays became fashionable. Gallery trays -named for their lip or ridge, called a ‘gallery’ – were trays made in either wood or metal, with higher sides than the traditional tray.
It provides:
- More security.
- Preventing items being carried from slipping.
- Tipping off the surface of the tray.
Victorian trays were heavily ornamented to adhere to the style of many pieces of silverware and homeware.
With the development of the times and the progress of science and technology, the electroplating process has gradually matured, and the production process of Salver has also evolved into internal brass and thick silver plating on the surface.
The reduction in costs has also made it affordable for the average family to spend.
What made us-PandaHardware Tray
However, because the product patterns at that time were all hand-beaten and carved by workers, the products still belonged to handicrafts, and the price was not so low that everyone could afford it.
Until after World War I. People in Hong Kong turn their products into iron, electroplated silver, and spray paint protection. The price of the product is further popularized.
Now our PandaHardwares craftsmen continue to give full play to the spirit of craftsmen, constantly optimize the process, and beautify the product design based on popularized products.
Let Tray products not only stop at the two designs, our carvings will be more three-dimensional and more beautiful. And all of our product designs are patented. The product is still in the process of upgrading.
We look forward to working with you to make our products go worldwide.
