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Pterocarpus santalinus (Telugu: రక్తచందనము (raktachandana), (Tamil: சிவப்புச்சந்தனம் (ciwappuccantanam); Red Sanders or Red Sandalwood) is a species of Pterocarpus native to India. It is only found in south India in Kadapa and Chittoor on the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh border.

The wood has historically been valued in China, particularly during the Ming and Qing periods, referred to in Chinese as zitan (紫檀) and spelt tzu-t'an by earlier western authors such Gustav Ecke, who introduced classical Chinese furniture to the west. It has been one of the most prized woods for millennia. King Solomon was given tribute logs of Almug in Sanskrit valgu, valgum by the Queen of Sheba. Due to its slow growth and rarity, furniture made from zitan is difficult to find and can be expensive . Between the 17th and 19th centuries in China the rarity of this wood led to the reservation of zitan furniture for the Qing dynasty imperial household. Chandan, the Indian word for Red Sandalwood which is Tzu-t’an, are linked by etymology. The word tan in Chinese is a perfect homonym of “tan”, meaning cinnabar, vermillion and the cognition is suggested by the interchange of chan for oriflamme, the vermilion ensign of the ancients. Chinese traders would have been familiar with Chandan. Tzu-t’an then is the ancient Chinese interpretation for the Indian word chandan for red sandalwood.

The striking abstract geometric design of bold trefoils seen on this tray is generically referred to as tixi or ‘marbled’ lacquer. The grooves are deliberately cut at an angle, revealing the different coloured layers of lacquer used to build up the surface. The motif is also known as ‘pommel scroll’, because it resembles the shape of the ring-pommel on early Chinese swords.1 The term guri, which is often used to denote the same motif, was coined in Japan. Tixi lacquer is known from the Southern Song dynasty (1127 – 1279) onwards, and became very popular during the Yuan dynasty (1279 – 1368).

Bronze mirrors were produced in China from neolithic times until the Qing Dynasty, when western glass mirrors were brought to China. Bronze mirrors were usually circular, with one side polished bright, to give a reflection, and the reverse side with designs. They often had a knob in the center so that they could be attached to clothing. Some of the earliest examples of Chinese bronze mirrors belonged to the Neolithic Qijia culture from around 2000 BCE. However, until Warring States times, bronze mirrors were not common with approximately only twenty having been discovered. During the Warring States period, mirrors became particularly popular. It was during the Han Dynasty, and the introduction of the TLV mirror, that mirrors started to be mass-produced. Both Han and Tang mirrors are considered to be the most technically advanced. Bronze mirrors continued to remain popular up through the Song Dynasty, but then gradually lost their popularity and ceased to be produced after the arrival of Western mirrors during the Ming and Qing dynasties.