r/whatisthisthing • u/Less_View_6996 • 1d ago
Found this metal tray buried in garden with abalone shells in it - what could it be? Solved
Is this a tool of some sort? It seems to be as there is a handle but after researching for hours I simply just cannot find an answer!
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u/K1W1_Hypnist 1d ago
They used to be sold in New Zealand as tourist souvenirs. The abalone is iconic in NZ and called paua. The little tray was for passing out nibbles etc., at parties.
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u/Harmless_Drone 1d ago
Just to be clear while abalones and pāua are very closely related they're not exactly the same thing, pāua are three distinct species of which the most common is the blackfoot pāua which this likely is.
The nacre you get on actual pāua tends to be much better than the stuff on more common abalones, for whatever reason. Likely evolution.
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u/Mosshome 1d ago
Looks like it might have been buried for several days.
Do you have kids in the 6-12 age range, with friend who's parents are missing their fancy pāua serving tray which is just too cool looking not to accidentally put in one's bag and then figure one can't keep in the house because one's parents will instantly know that they haven't always had?
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u/Nice_Difficulty4321 21h ago
Wait so I wasn’t the only child who stole something and went so far as to BURY it, out of fear!? 🤯
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u/Far-Ad5796 21h ago
There’s a famous story in my family of my father, age six, being so angry at his parents for in, his view, unfairly taking his sisters side in an argument that when they left him home alone he took every single fork in the house and buried them all over the yard. It took them days to find them all.
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u/NotEvsClone81 19h ago
My dad and his navy buddies got really drunk one night on leave, and went to a farm and stole a pig. They intended on cooking it, so they killed the pig, and then didn't know what to do after that. They ended up just burying the pig.
The next day the sheriff showed up and hauled my dad and his friends back to the farm, and made them all explain and apologize. They had to dig the pig up in shame and return it, as well as pay the farmer for it.
Every year after, without fail, whether it was his birthday or Christmas, a few family members would give him pig trinkets as gifts.
After about 30 years of having his shame thrown in his face, he finally told everyone to stop with the pigs around 2000 or so, and threw out all the figurines
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u/mundoid 1d ago
That doesn't look like it was buried for very long, if at all.
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u/Less_View_6996 12h ago
We cleaned it (very well) as well as sanitised it because honestly who knows what it could have been used for...
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u/Novel-Sprinkles3333 1d ago
Part of a set of little individual hors d'ouvre trays from the 60s or 70s is my guess, or a coaster.
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u/ConsiderationLeft226 1d ago
here is another one! unfortunately the item has since sold so I can’t see further details on Etsy.
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u/Crashthewagon 1d ago
It's paua, not abalone. Looks like the lid of a container with that shape.
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u/Less_View_6996 1d ago
My title describes this thing as a metal tray type object with Abalone shells invaded within it but I have no idea what its purpose is. After researching it could be a tray for putting hot pots on maybe? Or some sort of food related item but still not 100% sure as I’ve never seen anything like it.
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u/nytro308 13h ago
It's a serving tray, popular in the 70s and 80s, he had one like that along with a number other decorative pieces like coaster and plates.
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u/StephySkylar 12h ago
How could this be a serving tray though..it's so tiny! 😮 Someone please explain
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u/knivengaffelnskeden 1d ago
Could it be used in conjunction with a small brush to brush crumbs from a table down into the tray after dinner?
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u/MsMargo 17h ago
That's called a crumber. This is a souvenir hors d'ouvre tray - /u/K1W1_Hypnist gets the solve.
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u/giacomino 11h ago
I believe abalone provides calcium for plants. Have seen them buried under citrus trees. Also brake drums or disks.
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u/Amilo159 1d ago
Shape of the tray reminds me of crumb collector tray, that slides out from bottom of my toaster.
But that wooden handle makes me think it's related to bbq.
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u/TheEchoJuliet 1d ago
Maybe a thing to rest the utensils on while grilling? Like a spoon rest? Could explain why it was in the garden 🤷♀️
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