Restoring an old tray

At an old furniture market in Delhi, I came across this oriental tray…looking completely junked with no traces of polish… a broken foot and a missing wooden piece on the main body. I couldn’t help but fall in love with the dragon carving .The whole frame it was fitted into and the interesting legs.
The Sikh gentleman, I bought it from assured me he’d fix it …knowing the craftsmen ship in these parts I quite trusted him. Though not before letting him know I was a stickler for details and he had a tough cookie at hand. (yeah whatever, I was just melting away at the thought of how beautiful it would look on my console table and may be I could keep my beautiful fern pot in it or may be the pillar candles…)
He polished it my favorite walnut color and the new piece of wood next to the dragon carving was perfectly matched to the rest of the body. The part of the leg, which was missing, he made a complete, identical new one.
A piece of cast away junk …beautifully restored to its original beauty. It looks elegant on the console table with my cream-colored pillar candles.