Buried Treasure

A few years ago I uncovered an interesting tray on one of my Goodwill expeditions. I thought about painting it hot pink or something crazy, but never got around to it. We are moving on Monday(yay!! more on that later) so I have been busy packing. I came across the tray today and decided to try polishing it. Here is the before:

And after:

I love the all of the details! Also, the tray is silver plate on copper, and the silver has worn away in some places to reveal the copper underneath.

While cleaning the back of the tray I uncovered this:

So, I'm really glad I didn't paint it! This is the oldest thing I've thrifted, and I'm thrilled(: I think I'm going to put it on my dresser and fill it with my perfumes and things. Any ideas what you think it was originally used for? A tea tray maybe?

Sarah