The present dish is closely related to the lacquerwares from the Jiajing period that were made by the qiangjin tianqi method, whereby designs are etched in gilt to create outlines, then filled in with different coloured lacquer. Only a few dishes, like the present one, are decorated only with the qiangjin technique. Another example with a Jiajing mark, is illustrated by Lee Yu-kuan, Oriental Lacquer Art, New York, 1972, pl. 127, etched with chickens.

The design of the dragon on the present dish is comparable to that on a chrysanthemum-shaped dish with the addition of tianqi, included in the exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Hong Kong, 1993, Catalogue, no. 81.