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. First produced in England in the late 1500s, delftware grew in popularity in the 1600s as potteries flourished in London, Bristol, and elsewhere in the British Isles. Metallic oxides provided a range of colors for decoration: cobalt for blue, manganese for purple, iron for red, copper for green, and antimony for yellow. Delftware was relatively soft and chipped easily. By the mid-1700s, more durable soft-paste porcelains and salt-glazed stonewares grew in popularity; by the early 1800s, delftware production in England had declined dramatically.

Punch, which became popular during the 17th century, was typically a mixture of distilled spirit (usually rum), water, sugar, citrus juice, and spice; it was usually mixed in and served from a bowl, and was often the favored beverage for convivial drinking. This dated blue and white delftware bowl features Chinese-inspired scenes on the exterior and an exhortation on the interior to “Fill the Other Bowl Boys,” suggesting the liberal quantities that such gatherings often required as toasting went on into the night.