Decoration of this white salt-glazed stoneware salad-size plate was achieved by pressing the clay into a mold.  The resulting rococo style decoration, framed reserves of diamonds and stars alternating with fields of basketwork, emulates the patterns of more expensive silver wares.  This decoration is a variation of a popular salt-glazed stoneware pattern generally referred to as "basket-dot-diaper."  On this scalloped edge piece, the diamond field reserves around the rim are pierced adding an additional silver-inspired element. 

This piece may originally have been intended for a fruit course. Janine Skerry and Suzanne Hood, (Salt-Glazed Stoneware In Early America) illustrate and discuss a larger, but similar reticulated dish described as a fruit dish (p. 151, pl. 18,19).