DOI issue:
American section
DOI article:The exhibition of American silver of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries at the Boston Museum
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28250#0386
American Colonial Silver
TWO-HANDLED
BOWL
BY ROBERT SANDERSON
(seventeenth century)
the first days of the colonists. Though common in
the eighteenth century, forks were more easily
damaged and reconsigned to the melting pot. The
handles followed the styles of spoons.
After the close of the seventeenth century, when
the “Slipped Top” or “Puritan” shape of spoon
was in vogue, the style underwent a complete
change. In the “Hind’s Foot and Rat Tail” the
bowl became oval instead of fig-shaped, the stem
flat instead of hexagonal and notched at the end
to form a trefoil, the rat-tail junction of handle and
bowl being grooved. Early in the eighteenth cen-
tury the handle was rounded. The stem, no longer
flat, was rounded near the bowl
and widened towards the end. A
sharp ridge was formed down the
front of the stem towards the end,
which was turned up in the same
direction as the hollow of the bowl,
with a plain rat-tail junction of
handle and bowl. In the beginning
of the reign of George II a double
drop took the place of the rat-tail on
the bowl, the sharp ridge was less-
ened until only a trace remained on
the stem, which was turned down,
as it has remained to the present
day. Since 1760 the shape has
varied. At the close of the century,
the ends came almost to a point in
the French manner with “bright
cut” engraving. These followed the
Old English pattern with round
ends, and the Fiddle pattern with
shoulders just above the bowl and on the end of
the stem where it begins to widen out.
Porringers were common in the eighteenth
century, and served various uses. Often they
carried the initials of husband and wife. They
were also familiar as cupping and bleeding vessels,
and were used as wine tasters and for collecting
communion tokens and alms. The openwork and
keyhole patterns were convenient in allowing the
vessel to be hung on the edge of the dresser shelf.
Porringers were known in Holland, England and
France, where they were called “ecuelles.” There
was a similar dish in Scotland, but with solid
seventeenth century communion cups
BY HULL AND SANDERSON
TWO-HANDLED
BOWL
BY ROBERT SANDERSON
(seventeenth century)
the first days of the colonists. Though common in
the eighteenth century, forks were more easily
damaged and reconsigned to the melting pot. The
handles followed the styles of spoons.
After the close of the seventeenth century, when
the “Slipped Top” or “Puritan” shape of spoon
was in vogue, the style underwent a complete
change. In the “Hind’s Foot and Rat Tail” the
bowl became oval instead of fig-shaped, the stem
flat instead of hexagonal and notched at the end
to form a trefoil, the rat-tail junction of handle and
bowl being grooved. Early in the eighteenth cen-
tury the handle was rounded. The stem, no longer
flat, was rounded near the bowl
and widened towards the end. A
sharp ridge was formed down the
front of the stem towards the end,
which was turned up in the same
direction as the hollow of the bowl,
with a plain rat-tail junction of
handle and bowl. In the beginning
of the reign of George II a double
drop took the place of the rat-tail on
the bowl, the sharp ridge was less-
ened until only a trace remained on
the stem, which was turned down,
as it has remained to the present
day. Since 1760 the shape has
varied. At the close of the century,
the ends came almost to a point in
the French manner with “bright
cut” engraving. These followed the
Old English pattern with round
ends, and the Fiddle pattern with
shoulders just above the bowl and on the end of
the stem where it begins to widen out.
Porringers were common in the eighteenth
century, and served various uses. Often they
carried the initials of husband and wife. They
were also familiar as cupping and bleeding vessels,
and were used as wine tasters and for collecting
communion tokens and alms. The openwork and
keyhole patterns were convenient in allowing the
vessel to be hung on the edge of the dresser shelf.
Porringers were known in Holland, England and
France, where they were called “ecuelles.” There
was a similar dish in Scotland, but with solid
seventeenth century communion cups
BY HULL AND SANDERSON