The dish is decorated with a scene from the oil painting 'Dante's Dream' (1870-71) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82). The painting is in the collection of the Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool.

The subject is from the Dante's (1265-1321) 'Vita Nuova' an autobiography of his early life and commentary on his love for Beatrice Portinari. The work comprises a series of poems which Rossetti translated in his 'Early Italian Poets' in 1861. This scene embodies his dream on the day of the death of Beatrice in which he is lead by the figure of Love to the bedside of his dead lady. Two attendants lower a pall strewn with symbolic blossoms of may-flower, while red poppies of death cover the floor.

The decoration on the dish reproduces Rossetti's composition with minor variations. In particular, the figures have been painted to capture the dreamlike stillness of the oil painting. The technical characteristics of the ceramics medium, and the complexities inherent in the use of lustres, have restricted the artist's palette.