Delftware is a variety of earthenware with tin oxide added to its lead glaze formula to give an opaque white effect that was often used to imitate, or at least suggest, the appearance of Chinese porcelain. It forms part of the worldwide family of blue-and-white pottery, using variations of the cobalt decoration first developed in 14th-century Chinese porcelain. The city of Delft was the center of ceramics production in the Netherlands from about 1600 to 1850. Throughout the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company imported large quantities of Chinese porcelain, and the potters of Delft turned to this as a source of inspiration, closely copying much of it. Dutch delftware became a cheaper alternative to Chinese porcelain, and in the 17th and 18th centuries, Delftware was a major industry, exported from the Netherlands to all over Europe.

Ceramics depicting royal figures found great popularity in England during the second half of the 17th century, continuing to the present day. William III, depicted on this dish, came from Holland in the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688, ending the brief reign of Catholic monarch James II and consolidating Protestant power in the British crown.