The present vessel is closely related to a group of lavers which were common domestic articles in the 15th and 16th centuries. Examples are included in paintings and prints of domestic interiors of the fifteenth century, when they were used in conjunction with a shallow dish below as a mediaeval equivalent of the modern tap and washbasin (Lockner, op.cit., p. 136 and fig. 250b). Although lavers of the period were more commonly adorned with a spout on either side, this example does display a crenellated rim and, particularly, a handle form which place it among the earliest of this type of vessel.