M&B Stock No. 22

General
No. 22 appears in M&B Catalogue No. 14 (1902) as Game Design, Tea Tray No. 22 and is described as “To any lover of Nature, and the wonderful colorings shown in the plumage of the wild birds of Field and Forest, this tray will prove a treat, for none of the effects have escaped the artists’ eye.” They cost the standard $25 per 100 of full-sized trays. In the 1903 M&B Catalogue (No. 16) the description is expanded slightly to: “An unusually attractive bit of art metal especially adapted for use in the Dining Room. To any lover of nature, and the wonderful coloring shown in the plumage of the wild birds of field and forest, this tray will prove a treat, for none of the effects have escaped the artist’s eye.” Interestingly, the image in #16 appears with the simpler blue drape rim instead of the more elaborate rim depicted in No. 14. Like the fish on “Fish Design” the bird species are not identified but appear to be a wood duck, a woodcock and a canvasback duck.

Unlike “Fish Design” this tray shows up less frequently as an unmarked stock but more frequently as a 20th Century Art Studios sign with fancy rim. It shows up with a few more breweries and more “manly” enterprises, such as farm machinery and hunting supplies than “Fish Design”. We speculate that both this and “Fish Design” were created in late 1901 or early 1902, as the trays included in M&B No. 12 (July 1901) end at No. 14 and M&B catalogue 14 (1902) includes them.

Shape & Rim & Ad Text
Known tray examples are all oval with the low pie shaped rim and rolled edge. All sport a blue drape rim design, but not with the ornate rim shown in M&B catalogue No. 14. Advertising text (and sometime symbols or logos) appear both on the rim and on the face of the tray. There are also a few examples of narrow SFT signs featuring a faux woodgrain “frame”. Similarly, these have examples with advertising text on the “frame” and on the face. There are also examples printed on the backside of the tray with an ornate rime (like that pictured in catalogue No. 14) which may be marked “20th Century Art Studios”; none of these appear to carry any advertising.

Hager & Price
Hager does discuss “Game Design” in a discussion of drape rim trays from the same timeframe, but it is not included in his catalog listing. The few brewery examples tend to go for some pretty heady prices. For the stock samples and most non-brewers prices are modest for examples in good condition.