The form imitates a European glass shape designed to separate oil and vinegar for use as a condiment. Historically, it is probable that cruets were first used in the ritual or ecclesiastical sense, although people undoubtedly used similar flasks for condiments at home. Things like holy water and oils used for anointing are often presented in cruets for rituals. By the latter 17^th century, the use of cruets for culinary applications, probably introduced to France from Italy, had expanded widely enough to become commonplace and generally accepted. This piece was probably produced for the Dutch market, the silver mounts would have been attached later in Europe. Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, owned a similar cruet, which was copied at his factory at Meissen in the 1730s.