Inlaid wooden kitchen tray : Mrs E V Smythe

Wood veneer kitchen tray made from two layers of plyboard covered on the top, bottom and side edges with a thin layer of veneer. The top of the tray is inlaid in darker coloured wood with a representation of a Spitfire aircraft, bearing RAAF roundels, flying over mountains. The top and bottom edges have raised wooden panels attached to the tray by screws, to prevent plates sliding off the tray when it is carried. Each side of the tray has a pale green bakelite handle, designed for a kitchen cupboard, which is inset with two bands of nickel.

This tray was made as an illegal 'foreign order' by a worker at the De Havilland aircraft factory at Bankstown, Sydney, in 1945, for Mrs E V Smythe. She was the canteen manager there.