Object Type
The bowl was made for mixing hot punch, for which creamware, being hygenic and heat-resistant, was very suitable. It was probably given as a present at a wedding. Punch was first made in Western Europe during the 17th century, and it became the favourite drink for parties and assemblies in the following one. Its name, deriving from the Persian or Hindu word for 'five', refers to its five ingredients: spirits (originally Arrack from Goa or Batavia), sugar, lemon or lime, nutmeg and other spices, and water. New recipes including sweet Malaga wine, rum and brandy were introduced in the 18th century, when variants, such as those combining gin or brandy with hot water and sugar, were also drunk.

Trading
Export markets were always important for the Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), and by the 1780s they accounted for about 80 per cent of his production. He appointed a Dutch agent as early as 1763, and The Netherlands became one of his strongest overseas markets. Exports included large quantities of creamware. These were sometimes printed with designs that had passed out of fashion in Britain, as with the Rococo decoration on this bowl. Wedgwood also made portrait medallions and library busts of Dutch statesman specifically for the Dutch market.