Images(5)

Porringer

Date1785-1795

Marked by Paul Revere Jr. (1734 - 1818)

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Boston

MediumSilver

DimensionsOH: 2 1/2"; OL: 8 3/4"; Diam at belly: 5 3/4" Weight: 9 oz. 7 dwt. 5 gr.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1966-522

DescriptionSilver “keyhole” porringer: Raised circular body with low central boss and bellied sides with narrow flared rim. Cast openwork handle of conventional keyhole pattern soldered to body at slight upward angle.
Label TextPaul Revere is the best-known American colonial silversmith, partially due to his famous ride alarming the countryside of the advancing British troops. Unlike many of his English counterparts, he almost certainly spent the first half of his career actually making silver as well as supervising the work of others in his shop. In addition to silversmithing, Revere engraved prints and bookplates, ran an import business, established a bell and cannon foundry, and started the first successful copper rolling mills in the new nation. Thanks to the rare survival of record books, many of the objects made in the Revere silver shop are well documented.
InscribedEngraved in foliate script on front of handle "NAG" for Nathaniel Gilman (1759-1847) of Exeter, New Hampshire and his first wife, Abigail Odlin, who married on December 29, 1785. Later engraved on back of handle "N.G./to/S.A.G." to record the gift of the porringer to Sarah Almira Gilman (born August 29, 1827), who, according to family history, inherited the porringer on her grandfather's death in 1847.

MarkingsStruck in relief in center of bowl "REVERE" in rectangle (see Kane, page 795, mark C)
ProvenanceNathaniel Gilman (1759-1847) of Exeter, New Hampshire and his first wife, Abigail Odlin, who married on December 29, 1785.

Later engraved on back of handle "N.G./to/S.A.G." to record the gift of the porringer to Sarah Almira Gilman (born August 29, 1827), who, according to family history, inherited the porringer on her grandfather's death in 1847.

Purchased from Firestone & Parson, Boston, Massachusetts. Ex. coll. Philip H. Hammerslough. Porringer was accompanied by a letter dated March 3, 1925 from Hollis R. Bailey, Attorney, Boston, Massachusetts, addressed to Mrs. Dorothy Gannett, Hyde Park, Massachusetts, documenting the history of the porringer from its original owners to Mrs. Bailey's posession (see accession files).

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