A pepper pot such as this usually came in sets of three, also including a salt and mustard pot. This pot shows a marbled decoration. This was achieved by applying different coloured slips (liquid clay) to an earthenware body. The slips could then be worked through, such as by dragging a comb or brush, to create marbled patterning. In appearance marbled wares are similar to earlier agate-ware. Agate-ware involved wedging different coloured clays together to form the body. The patterning was therefore solid throughout rather than being a marbled covering. Agate-ware was more time-consuming and expensive to produce than surface marbling and was mainly produced during the early to mid eighteenth century, whereas marbling, employing various techniques, continued well into the nineteenth century.