Decoration of this white salt-glazed stoneware tray was achieved through pressing the clay into molds.  Through this process, potters were able to emulate more costly silver patterns.  In this example, the decoration is a series of diamond-star reserves framed in playful roccoco scrollwork alternating with simple basketweave panels.  The tactile pattern provides a graceful complement to the scalloped shape of the tray, with contrasting sections corresponding to the alternating concave and convex curves of the edge. 

The catalog for the 1982 exhibition, Stonewares and Stone Chinas of Northern England to 1851 (Northern Ceramic Society; City Museum, Stoke-On-Trent),  includes a similar, slightly smaller piece used as the stand to a basket (pl. 18, no. 18).  NCS authorities assign the piece a Staffordshire attribution, dating it c. 1760.