The composition in concentric bands is one of the most elaborate for this type of tray, which was used to carry food. The animal and human figures were very popular in Mamluk iconography. The central roundel contains representations of the seven planets and the twelve signs of the zodiac. The sun is in the center; Mars, Jupiter, the moon, Mercury, Saturn, and Venus are shown clockwise in random order rather than in the traditional sequence of descending order according to their distance from the earth. The twelve zodiac signs are in proper order, clockwise. Three large roundels interrupt the main inscription. Two of them seem to show a horseman extracting an arrow from his quiver, then shooting it at a gazelle; in the third roundel, a horseman attacks a lion with his spear. The small quadrupeds running in profile around the rim present a complete Mamluk bestiary: rhinoceros, lion, antelope, cheetah, saluki, wolf, hare, unicorn, bear, elephant, horse, onager, gazelle, deer, and sphinx. The border of the rim is completed by a band of tiny stylized quails. The large inscription in thuluth gives the name of the Yemenite sultan al-Mu'ayyad Dawud. The two smaller bands include eulogies in an elaborate, barely readable "knotted kufic" style. Five-petalled rosettes in a circle interrupt the inscriptions in the smaller bands. The smaller inlay is very shallow, and the tray evidently was frequently used and polished. As a consequence, the inlay has almost disappeared and only the black bitumen is partially visible.

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