This earthenware bowl was made in Pisa, Italy. It was found within Ditch 1 of James Fort, which is a context dating to the second quarter of the 17th century. The bowl is a ware known as North Italian Marbled Slipware as two or more colors of slip (liquid clay) are normally swirled together to present a marbled appearance on the surface of the vessel. This bowl is unusual in that it has been dabbed, rather than swirled, with white and red slip. Copper oxide in the glaze gives it an additional green mottled and streaked appearance.

North Italian slipwares occur on Virginia sites dating to the second and third quarters of the 17th century, which is a context coinciding with intense Dutch trade with the English colonies. This commerce is believed responsible for the presence of these Italian wares on Virginia sites.