Porringer

Date1701-1715

Artist/Maker John Quick

MediumPewter

DimensionsOH: 2"; OL: 7 3/4"; Diam (rim): 5 3/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1979-237

DescriptionPorringer
Label TextBy the time John Quick had fashioned this splendid porringer in the first years of the eighteenth century, the booged or bellied porringer had largely displaced other types. It was customary for most porringers then to have a raised central boss surrounded by a flat gutter in the bottoms of their bowls. Handles or ears were invariably burnt on, that is, cast directly against the body. This achieved a more secure join with the body. Since the point of attachment on the body was partly melted in the procedure, a damp cloth was used to cool the metal on the inside of the bowl. Consequently, one should expect to see a small textured area inside the bowl opposite the handle. Some collectors will not acquire a porringer purporting to be from the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries without the presence of a reassuring "linen mark." By the time this porringer was made, the strengthening bar on the underside of the handle had been discarded with just the triangular tab retained.

This porringer is one of only four known English examples with relief-cast gadrooned decoration, all of which bear the mark of John Quick of London. This handsomely executed decoration is cut into the interiors of the molds. Notice how a floral blossom of alternating type on a bifurcated stem is superimposed on the flutes between each of the gadroons, and how the bands of decoration above step down with obvious calculation from a relatively broad and intricate running border of flowers bound by beaded borders with a band of cabling above, likewise bound by beaded borders.

One of the main advantages of a piece with relief-cast decoration is that it cannot be cleaned up on a lathe to remove its casting marks. Here we can clearly see that it was cast in a two-part mold with vertical seams readily apparent on the front of the body and behind the handle. Where the handle was attached, the maker was not reluctant in removing the seam and the raised decoration in the area in a broad and exuberant manner. This same sensibility in adding handles is also evident in the fine two-handled cup in the collection (accession 1977-222).

InscribedOwner's initials "KD" wriggle-engraved on upper face of handle.
MarkingsTouch mark a harp with a star above with "I" to the left and "Q" to the right within a beaded circle on underside of handle (London Touch Plate II, 591; Cotterell 3807).
ProvenanceVendor: Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., London, 1979.