The following description is taken from Watson, Oliver. "An Islamic 'Lacquered' Dish", in Lacquerwork in Asia and Beyond: Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia No. 11, ed. William Watson. London: Percival David Foundation, 1981, pp. 238-9:

It is evident that the technique bears no relation to the Far Eastern lacquer manufacture, and if any connection is to be supposed at all, it must be sought in the copying of particular artefacts. No particular ‘Chinese’ objects have survived in Persian lacquer, and while ‘chinoiserie’ elements occur in the supposed earliest examples of Middle Eastern ‘lacquers’ (i.e. 15th century book bindings), they cannot be argued to be part of a fresh impetus of Chinese influence, but are clearly the residue of the strong impact of Chinese painting in the Islamic world in the 14th century.

The wooden dish was purchased in London, and was said to have been found in the ruins of Fustat (Old Cairo) in Egypt. It is turned from a single piece of wood, but contrary to expectations is turned across the grain, so that the grain runs across the plane of the dish, rather than standing perpendicular to it. This inevitably weakens the vessel, which has indeed split in two (now restored). The wood from which it is made (ficus sycomorus) is native to Egypt, but the manner of turning suggests that the use (more probably re-use) of a plank, rather than of a section of trunk or branch normally used by the wood turner. A gesso ground is applied on a textile base to the wood, and the painting is carried out in black outline, with yellow and blue infilling on a red ground. The thick varnish, which has every appearance of being the original, has yellowed badly and distorted the true colours, the blue in particular appearing a muddy brown. The pigments used are vermilion, indigo, and orpiment.

The animal depicted – a long eared dog-like creature, probably a jackal – is commonly found in Egyptian work over a long period of time. It occurs on lusterware of the Fatimid period, ivory carving of the Ayyubid period, and in painting, metalwork and pottery of the Mamluks. They style in which it is here depicted, with spritely and free drawing, the simple fronds of vegetation and the suggestion of a base line, recall the animal drawing of the 13th century, both in manuscripts such as the Kalila wa Dimna stories, and on pottery. A thirteenth or possibly 14th century date is therefore here suggested for the wooden dish.