Condiment vases usually came in threes: containing pepper, spices and mustard. This was part of such a set, made for Charles Birch of Woodford in Essex. An identical set of condiment vases was ordered from the Courtauld workshop for the new dining room at Kedleston Hall, one of Robert Adam’s grandest country house interiors. The vase’s shape is inspired by a type of Ancient Greek ceramic marriage vase, examples of which were published at the time. The engraved scene showing warriors in a barren landscape has the spare lines, shading and classical borders of Greek vase painting, which it consciously emulates. Its subject matter appears to be taken from British history.