The decorative elements on this dish copy those of a Japanese Kakiemon dish that was produced for the European market but which were ultimately drawn from a Chinese vocabulary of symbols. These motifs were commonly used on Japanese objects, and include the curled water dragon in the centre, a salamander-like creature that was auspiciously associated with water, cranes, the flaming tortoise, and the so-called ‘three friends of winter’ – bamboo, pine and plum blossom.