Handcrafted Decorative Trays – Traditional Indian Art for Your Table

EthniiChic's hand-painted decorative trays bring India's regional folk and temple art traditions onto a single, everyday object. Each tray in this collection is either individually hand-painted by our artists on solid mango wood, or hand-finished using a decoupage technique on engineered wood, carrying motifs from art forms such as Pichwai, Madhubani, Pattachitra, Kalamkari, Kerala mural painting, Tholu Bommalatha, Phad, Gond, Warli, and Rajput miniature painting. These aren't mass-produced serving pieces with a generic print. They're wooden trays for home decor built around a specific regional craft, a specific state, and a specific story, designed for people who want their tableware to mean something beyond function.

Every piece in this collection is sealed for regular use, so you can genuinely serve tea, snacks, or a festive spread on it, or simply let it stand alone as wall-worthy art on a console or shelf.

What Makes These Trays Different from an Ordinary Serving Tray

A hand-painted tray from EthniiChic is not printed wallpaper glued onto wood. Our solid mango wood serving trays are painted freehand by trained artists working in the authentic techniques of the art form they represent, whether that's Pichwai's layered devotional detailing, Madhubani's fine double-line outlines, or Kalamkari's natural-dye-inspired pen work. Our engineered wood trays use a decoupage process, where the artwork is applied and sealed by hand onto a sturdy wooden base, giving you the same intricate detailing in a finish built for daily handling. Every tray is finished with a food-safe seal, and each is rooted in a documented Indian art tradition and state of origin rather than a generic "ethnic" print.

Explore Trays by Indian Art Form

Pichwai trays draw from the devotional painting tradition of Nathdwara, Rajasthan, best known for depictions of Shrinathji and the cow, or gau mata, as a symbol of Krishna's childhood in Vrindavan.

Madhubani trays (also called Mithila art) come from Bihar, painted in fine double-outline linework filled with dense natural patterning, historically created by women on the mud walls of Mithila homes. Fish, peacocks, the sun, and figures from the Ramayana are recurring motifs.

Pattachitra trays carry Odisha's classical scroll-painting tradition, tied historically to the Jagannath temple in Puri, and known for fine, unbroken linework and flat, jewel-toned colour. Krishna Leela, Raas Leela, and the Dashavatar are common subjects.

Kalamkari trays represent Andhra Pradesh and Telangana's pen-and-natural-dye painting tradition, where a fine hand-held pen, or kalam, was historically used to illustrate mythological scenes and temple narratives.

Kerala mural trays reproduce the rich reds, ochres, and greens of Kerala's temple wall painting tradition, depicting apsaras, deities, and figures from performance traditions like Kathakali and Theyyam.

Tholu Bommalatha trays reinterpret Andhra Pradesh's leather shadow-puppet art, known for bold outlines and saturated colour built to read clearly on a lit screen.

Phad trays draw on Rajasthan's travelling scroll-painting tradition, historically unrolled by bards narrating the deeds of local folk deities, rendered in bold, earthy colour.

Gond, Warli, and Rajput miniature trays round out the collection with Madhya Pradesh's dot-and-line tribal art, Maharashtra's minimal geometric folk painting, and Rajasthan's finely detailed courtly miniature style.

Wooden Serving Trays for Every Room and Occasion

These decorative wooden trays work well beyond the dining table. Use a hand-painted tray to serve chai and snacks to guests, as a vanity or perfume tray in the bedroom, as a catch-all tray on a console table, or propped upright on a stand as a standalone piece of wall-adjacent art. Their size range, from compact narrow trays to large centrepiece trays, means there's a fit for a small apartment shelf as well as a full dining spread.

They're also one of our most gifted categories. Customers regularly choose a hand-painted tray for Diwali gifting, housewarming gifts, wedding return favours, and corporate and bulk gifting, since a tray reads as both a useful object and a genuine piece of Indian art, unlike a purely decorative showpiece. For NRI gift buyers specifically, these trays travel well, ship internationally, and carry an immediate, recognisable connection to a specific Indian state and art form, making them a meaningful way to send a piece of home abroad.

Caring for Your Hand-painted Tray

Clean your tray with a soft, dry or lightly damp cloth. Avoid soaking it, running it under water, using a dishwasher, or scrubbing with abrasive pads or harsh chemicals, all of which can wear down the hand-painted or decoupage finish over time. Keep the tray out of prolonged direct sunlight to preserve colour vibrancy, and store it in a dry space when not in use.