"Coronet" Handle Porringer

Dateca. 1780-1820

Mold attributed to Jonas Clark

MediumPewter

DimensionsLength: 6 5/8"; Diameter of bowl: 4 5/8"; Height: 1 5/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2023-303

DescriptionPewter porringer with a handle centered on a ducal coronet over a plain circle, surrounded by foliage and embellished by eleven apertures. Its bellied bowl has an everted rim and a raised boss surrounded by a recess at the bottom. The handle is supported by a lobed bracket and was cast directly onto the vessel, leaving a circular linen mark on the inside of the bowl.
Label TextFirst produced in England around 1715, "coronet" handle porringers were made shortly thereafter in America, where they remained popular until the second quarter of the 19th century. This was especially true in Boston, where they were available in four different sizes. Current scholarship suggests that the originator of the "I C" coronet handle porringers was Jonas Clark (1690-1759). However, a firm attribution can't be made to him, as his molds passed on to other pewterers after his death, and kept in use.
Markings"I C," in retrograde, cast into the back of the handle.
ProvenanceRobert and Arlene Diercks (Centerville, OH); 2023-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)