This silver-gilt bowl, known as a tazza, would have been used as a wine cup or spice plate. Contemporary paintings show vessels of this form being used as wine cups. Their fashionability during the Elizabethan period is illustrated by the fact that a state lottery in 1567 offered seventy-eight tazzas as prizes. Though plain on the outside, this piece is engraved and embossed within so the decoration became apparent as the bowl was emptied.

This piece is an example of 16th century domestic silver. Such silver was both functional and ornamental. Objects for dining and drinking took elegant forms and were decorated in the latest styles. Beautifully crafted items intended only for display often adopted functional forms such as cups and dishes. Domestic silver was not confined to the most wealthy. Many people owned silver spoons or mounted vessels, items which often became treasured possessions.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.