Arthur Court Grape 19-Inch Oblong Tray

This 19 inch grape oblong tray continues to retain its popularity with Arthur Court collectors. The length of this tray makes it a versatile piece, and great for serving appetizers, breads or desserts. In the center, is a mirror-like finish, with a beautifully detailed grapevine design the surrounds the edges. The decorative metal is manufactured using Arthur Court's signature premium aluminum alloy.

A beautiful accent to a formal dining affair, this gorgeous oblong tray is perfectly sized to serve a baguette of sourdough bread, a batch of shortbread cookies, or a colorful antipasto platter of meats and marinated vegetables. The tray's brilliant luster captures the elegance of antique silver but is actually made of hand-polished aluminum, which is much easier for today's busy hostesses to maintain. The design features bunches of grapes with leaves and vines in bas-relief winding around the outer edge of the tray. The rectangular tray curves up slightly at the edges to prevent food from sliding off. Handles at either end are helpful for passing hors d'ouvres and four feet keep the platter planted firmly on a buffet table. This aluminum serveware is not dishwasher-safe but cleans easily with mild soap and water. Lining the tray with glass or spraying it with vegetable oil just before serving will protect the polished finish from dulling or discoloration that can occur when serving highly acidic or salty foods. This serving tray makes a wonderful wedding gift for a couple who loves to entertain. As Arthur and Elena Court, owners of Arthur Court Designs, are avid conservationists, a percentage of all proceeds of their products go directly to wildlife preservation and environmental research and education projects. --Cristina Vaamonde

“Tantra teaches that lovemaking between a man and woman, when entered into with awareness, is a gateway to both sexual and spiritual ecstasy. In India, traditional Tantrikas spent many years under the guidance of a spiritual teacher and engaged in elaborate yogic rituals to purify and master the body and mind.” The Kama Sutra: The Book of Love A Definition of Kama Sutra By Suzie Heumann Almost everyone has heard of the Kama Sutra. “Kama” means all things pleasurable, such as sexuality and sensuality; it also encompasses eating, gaming, cultural activities, activities with friends. Kama is the name of the Indian God that represents the sexual nature in man, much like Eros did to the Greeks. “Sutra” means a short book or aphorisms. Thus the Kama Sutra is an ancient manual of love. The Kama Sutra is most often associated with sex and sex positions. That’s not all it offers, though. The Kama Sutra details many kissing techniques, the Sixty-Four Arts, courting practices, modes of touching including biting and scratching, sexual positions or asanas, how to treat marriage partners as well as consorts, the concocting of aphrodisiacs, and much more. Past cultures honored our sexual life force and understood that teaching the next generation was supremely important. In the past 3,000 years we’ve seen the development of sex manuals throughout all of the Eastern cultures. These demonstrate the care and mentoring that people knew was vital if the values of that culture were to carry on. The Kama Sutra has as much to offer modern couples as it did their counterparts in ancient India. Perhaps the most well known of all love manuals, it was translated from Sanskrit in the middle 1800s by an English adventurer named Sir Richard Burton. At the time of his death he is reputed to have been fluent in 40 languages. When the Kama Sutra appeared in print it shocked Victorian England, and upon Sir Richard’s death, his wife burned many of the other books he had translated but not published. Most of them have not been re-translated and many may be lost forever. It is believed that today’s version of the Kama Sutra was compiled and put into written form from a rich tradition of oral history. Written in Sanskrit by a man named Vatsyayana, its structure appears as poetry and verse. The descriptions of the positions are short and to the point, as if they were reminders to the couple rather than detailed instruction. Sutras likely were taught as oral poetry. Tantra and Tantric Sexuality: A Key to Wholeness A Definition of Tantra and Tantric Sex By Suzie Heumann In our rush to categorize and assign meaning to our experiences, we often elevate the spiritual above the events of our normal lives. Yet what we find most moving is spiritual. When we are deeply affected, able to let go and banish our always-assessing egos, we are having a spiritual experience. Many people able to reach deep ecstatic sexual states liken these to transcendental spiritual experiences. They discover that the distinction between the physical and the spiritual is not as clear as they were taught. They may even feel that they have come to know God, or ultimate reality, through sex. Tantra and the Kama Sutra both view sexuality as vital aspects of the path to enlightenment. The approximate Sanskrit definition of “Tantra” is “web” or a union of opposites that, when united, becomes one with everything in the universe. Tantric practice unifies the many contradictory aspects of the self (e.g., masculine and feminine, spirit and matter, dark and light) into a harmonious whole. Developed in India, Tantric practices were at their height between 500 to 1300 AD. Today Tantra is a living system designed to promote rapid growth towards enlightenment. Tantra’s components include yoga, meditation, deity worship, whole-body health, and Ayurvedic medicine. There has been a renewal of interest in Tantric practice in the West. Many couples are looking to improve their sex life. Perhaps because our society is maturing or because of a widespread awakening of consciousness, we seem to be gravitating towards the lessons in conscious intimacy that Tantra has to offer. Most of us know very little about our own bodies and our potential for pleasure. Though most of us won’t seek out a guru to guide us in our Tantric practice, learning even the simplest of the techniques can bring a sense of greater communion with our partners, our natures, and, ultimately, with our souls. One’s love life may dramatically improve when tantric practices are learned. Our spirits open when we engage in more trusting sexual relationships that involve communication, the spirit of playfulness, and being open to discovery. Hijdas making love the tantric way gay abundance as foreplay before you click main menu you have to pay orgiastic oracular untesticular tirade on a silver plattered tray holding back to delay culinary joys of a gourmet sexual shield some sword play a condom caricatured toupee moments th

Childbirth tray (desco da parto) with the Triumph of Fame (recto) and Medici and Tornabuoni arms and devices (verso), 1448–49 Giovanni di Ser Giovanni Guidi, called Lo Scheggia (Italian, Florentine, 1406–1486) Tempera, silver, and gold on panel Overall (with engaged frame) Diam. 36 1/2 in. (92.7 cm); painted surface (recto) Diam. 24 5/8 in. (62.5 cm); painted surface (verso) Diam. 29 5/8 in. (75.2 cm) Purchase in memory of Sir John Pope-Hennessy: Rogers Fund, The Annenberg Foundation, Drue Heinz Foundation, Annette de la Renta, Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Richardson, and The Vincent Astor Foundation Gifts, Wrightsman and Gwynne Andrews Funds, special funds, and Gift of the children of Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Logan, and other gifts and bequests, by exchange, 1995 (1995.7) This salver was commissioned to celebrate the birth of Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492), de facto ruler of Florence from 1469 until his death, and is the largest and most elaborate surviving birth tray. Twenty-eight men on horseback are shown pledging allegiance to Fame, a beautiful winged woman who holds a sword and a statuette of Cupid as she stands atop a globe on an enormous pedestal. This scene, known as the Triumph of Fame and based on Boccaccio's Amorosa Visione (1342) and Petrarch's Trionfi (1354–74), clearly shows the dynastic ambitions of Piero de' Medici, Lorenzo's father, who commissioned the work and gave it to his wife Lucrezia Tornabuoni. The tray must have had considerable commemorative value to Lorenzo, as it was hanging in his bedchamber at the time of his death. Giovanni di Ser Giovanni Guidi, known as Lo Scheggia, was the younger brother of Masaccio, the short-lived revolutionary artist of the early quattrocento in Florence. Scheggia, on the contrary, had a long, successful career and was particularly adept at the production of secular domestic objects. The back of the salver, once resplendent with silver decoration that has now oxidized, is embellished with Piero de' Medici's emblem, a diamond ring, three feathers, and a banderole inscribed with the motto "Semper," or "Always." At the top are the coats of arms of the Medici and the Tornabuoni. To the left of the central feather are the eight red balls of the Medici, and to the right the rampant lion of the Tornabuoni. I thought the row of Horse ass was an interesting artistic choice

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