A simple, almost primitive hand executed pattern of floral sprays decorates this simple white salt-glazed tea bowl and saucer.  Sitting on top of the stoneware surface, the gem-like enamels add an almost three-dimensional facet to the composition. 

According to Janine Skerry and Suzanne Hood (Salt Glazed Stoneware In Early America, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2009), enamel decorated stoneware was being produced by the mid-1750's in Staffordshire.  While these pieces added a new level of elegance to plain white salt-glazed stoneware, they were also more expensive as the mineral compounds used in decoration required a second firing to fuse them to the surface. (p. 123)