The profitable production of salt-glazed stoneware in England began in the 1670s with John Dwight in London. Many of his early products were close copies of the heavy German wares of the 1600s. Much finer were the white salt-glazed stonewares that developed in England in the early 1700s. Their durability, hygienic qualities, delicacy, and whiteness gave them many advantages over delftware, and they grew to have a large segment of the pottery market by the middle of the century. The potters employed several production and decoration techniques: wheel throwing, press molding, slip casting, sprigged and mold-applied decoration, and enameling, as well as scratch-brown and scratch-blue decoration. The latter, created by rubbing a cobalt compound into incised decoration cut into the leather-hard wares, appeared in the early 1740s and continued through the late 1770s.

Decorated with scratch blue, this two-handled, or loving, cup form was a presentation object, which may have commemorated a wedding. Such cups are reminders of social drinking rituals intended to structure, display, and reinforce close relationships. Passed from hand to hand, it is an emblem of the connections between drinkers.