Dish, 6 x 4 x 2.5 inches. Brown transfer. Printed and impressed maker's marks for W. T. Copeland & Sons. Impressed J83 indicates a manufacture date of January 1883. The "Cairo" series was introduced in 1881 and all the patterns in the series feature the "Arabesque" border. Here the central image features two cartouches superimposed over a branch of blossoms and leaves. The smaller cartouche is a quatrefoil contained within a circle and both are filled with geometric designs. The larger cartouche is fan-shaped with a curling left edge and has an image of a boat on the water at the bottom of a rocky cliff with a domed building and minaret at the top.

W. T. Copeland was the only son of William Copeland, partner of Josiah Spode in the Stoke Potteries, of Staffordshire and of Portugal Street, London. He succeeded his father as head of the porcelain firm in Portugal Street, London and eventually bought out the interests of the Spode family in the business in the Potteries and London. He ran the business in partnership with Thomas Garrett between 1833 and 1847. After the dissolution of the Copeland and Garrett partnership, it traded as W.T. Copeland and Sons. (1847-1976). In 1866 Copeland was appointed china and glass manufacturer to the Prince of Wales.