Salvers were normally small and used to support a tea or coffeepot on a table. The large size of this salver suggests it was used as a serving platter. The heavy ball-and-claw feet and the border, an alternating series of convex and concave elements known as gadrooning, were typical decorative treatments favored in New York at the end of the 18th century. The salver was originally commissioned by Matthew Clarkson (1758–1825).