This tureen is a covered vessel for holding hot soup. Beginning in the mid-17th century, the highest levels of society throughout Europe followed a system of formal dining that originated in France. The practice called for all dishes of one course to be laid out on the table at one time, arranged in a strictly symmetrical pattern. When each course was completed, the dishes were removed and replaced with the next course. The first course began with soup, generally served in tureens of an oval form. By the early 19th century, from which this example dates, tureens in silver and Sheffield plate also began to appear in more rectangular forms.

Sheffield plate originated, with the discovery in 1742, that bars of silver and copper, in unequal proportions, fused by heating under pressure, could be rolled into sheets of laminated metal and worked like silver. The industry this material created flourished for about 100 years until superseded by electroplating in the 1840s. This tureen has shell and foliage decoration and is engraved with the arms of the East India Company.