The cylindrical tankard has a simple, straight handle decorated with vibrant black lines. Three rows of sailing ships with blue-striped sails circle the vessel clockwise. Red rock reefs and small groups of blue dots are evenly distributed between the ships. Red and blue also dominate the borders painted with trefoil patterns—decorative arches with three points—that embellish the rim and base of the jug.

The dating of the tankard is based on comparisons with painted tiles from the same period. While many new ceramic shapes emerged during this time, cylindrical tankards remained particularly sought after in the Ottoman Empire. In other Islamic countries, where beer and alcoholic beverages were not as popular, they may have been less in demand. İznik tankards from this period—named after İznik, the famous pottery-producing center—sometimes feature inscriptions that allude to their use as beer mugs. Some of these tankards were brought to Europe as gifts, where they were often fitted with silver holders.

Sailing ships already enjoyed great appeal in the İznik workshops during the first half of the sixteenth century. Nevertheless, they appear particularly frequently on pieces from the last quarter of the century, which are characterized by red rocky islands. In the eighteenth century, the first Berlin faience manufacturer—a workshop for glazed ceramics—took up this motif and used it for orientalizing vases.