The Ginori company, founded in 1735 in Doccia near Florence, built its reputation on imitations of Italian lustred wares and maiolica of around 1500. Under the Marchese Lorenzo Ginori Lisci (d.1878), director from 1848, the pottery produced designs reflecting more varied and more contemporary tastes but also continued making its successful lustred wares. In 1896 the pottery came under the ownership of Giulio Richard who already owned other factories. Combined, the new company was known as the Società Ceramica Richard-Ginori.

This bowl emulates earlier 16th century lustreware maiolica particularly from Deruta, Gubbio and Faenza where this pattern of overlapping scales was used (a Deruta example in the V&A collection is 228-1885). The size and form of the bowl is closer to Gubbio and Faenza types. The design for this bowl is in the Archivio del Museo di Doccia (inv. no. 2380) factory model 138 pattern number 9. This bowl is an early example of the experimental lustrewares Ginori began producing from 1854-55. The deep scale pattern border was used to decorate other Ginori pieces such as a plate with a central figure of a warrior, 1855 (A gift from Ginori to the Sèvres Factory, Musée National de Céramique, Inv. 57.72) and a plate with a central figure of a man in psuedo-Renaissance costume (Bought by the National Museum of Scotland from the Vienna International Exhibition, 1873. Inv. A 1873.91.2).

This bowl and five other pieces of Ginori were purchased by Henry Cole (1808-82) then Director of the South Kensington Museum (V&A) in 1859 directly from the manufacturer. The pieces are V&A 5443, 5444 and 5445-1859, the ewer is 5446-1859, the other two pieces are plain white water-pots 5448 (& 5449-1859 no longer in the Museum collection). Cole visited Florence in late 1858 and early 1859 to acquire works of art for the collection. He was accompanied by Charles Drury Edward Fortnum (1820-99) a collector and connoisseur who advised Cole on many of the purchases.