The bowl is decorated with a fish swimming amongst water weeds. Chinese porcelains were expensive and difficult to produce — were often used as diplomatic gifts by the imperial court. They entered Indian Ocean trade networks by the fifteenth century and rapidly became sought-after treasures. Chinese designs and symbols became sought-out particularly during the reign of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, which spans from 1556 to 1666. There are several literacy references to the import of China pottery which shows that the pottery was highly prized in India. During the Mughal period Babur writes in his Memoirs, "that he took Chinese cup along with him on an excursion. In A.D. 1519 Darwish-i-Muhammad Sarban presented Babur with a seven colored cup".