In December 1757, George Washington acquired a set of elegant tablewares for his bachelor household that included "6 dozn finest white stone plates" and a variety of serving dishes. In the 1750s and 1760s, the relatively inexpensive yet fashionable stoneware produced in England was the most widely used tableware in the American colonies. Complete examples of Washington's white salt-glazed stoneware do not survive, but fragments recovered during archaeological excavations confirm that his stone plates were similar to this example, decorated with the popular "basket work'd" pattern on the rim.