The tankard was described as ‘a superb silver Tankard, richly set with Gems, Cameos and Intaglios and coloured stones gilt all over dead red’ when it was purchased by George IV for £504 from the Royal goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, on 31 December 1823. The piece is a late example of the fashion for cameo-studded cups and covers. These were frequently produced in the seventeenth century in France and Flanders and in Dresden in the early eighteenth century.