John Talman (1677-1726) was the son of the celebrated architect William Talman. From about 1698 he was employed by his father to help assemble material for his extensive collection of architectural drawings, prints and books. This role complemented Talman’s antiquarian interests and he made several trips to the Continent both in order to acquire works of art and to broaden his knowledge of Catholic antiquity. In 1709 Talman embarked for Italy along with his friend, the designer and architect William Kent. The sojourn would last 8 years, during which time Talman successfully integrated himself into Rome’s virtuoso community, being elected a member of the Academia dell' Arcadia in 1711. The Academia was a society devoted to the liberal arts and also an important social network with members such as the Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a distinguished patron of the arts. Talman’s election to the Academia was a great honour, and in June 1711 he organised a grand party to entertain his new associates. In a letter to his father dated June 6th, 1711, John writes that his “entertainment… is the talk of the whole town” and his guests included “all the top Virtuosi in Rome both for learning and arts.” The evening cost £20, an enormously expensive sum for a man of Talman’s means, and he proudly details the festivities, describing some of the temporary decorations he devised for his rooms: “The side board was adornd with fine painted dishes & vases, nor were there wanting silver dishes wrought with history. With other curiositys, there were above 80 plates & dishes of silver, aboundance of particulars I leave out because I intend to have it all drawn in proper colours, & I shall make an exact description.”

Terry Friedman has linked Talman’s reference to these coloured record-drawings with this object. The elaborate display of plate and ceramics depicted was usual for grand Italian entertainments, and we know from Talman’s later correspondence to his father that he drew detailed designs for the events he planned. In a letter dated July 25th of the same year he is already devising an even grander entertainment, saying “It is all scetched out on paper & I shou’d be pleased to put it in execution.” Unfortunately for Talman his finances did not extend as far as his imagination and it is doubtful that these plans were realised, but the success of the 1711 banquet firmly established him within the virtuosi community of Rome.