Porringer

Date1660-1680

MediumPewter

DimensionsOH: 1 11/16"; OL: 7 15/16"; Diam (rim): 5 3/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1977-220

DescriptionporringerLabel TextArchaeological excavations in 1859 near Charlestown, Rhode Island, of the grave of Princess Weunquesh of the Niantic Narragansett tribe yielded two very similar pewter porringers with rather straight-sided bowls and dolphin handles, along with other household goods, that had been buried with her after her death about 1686. They bear the marks of Joseph Collier and Timothy Blackwell of London, and they are owned by the Rhode Island Historical Society in Providence and the Roger Williams Park Museum, also in Providence. Even though documentation does not exist, one wonders whether these porringers were specifically chosen as trade goods with coastal Indians and whether they were valued by their Indian owners and chosen as burial goods because of their zoomorphic handles.Inscription(s)Owner's initial "A" within a serrated rectangle stamped on upper face of handle near touch mark.Mark(s)Touch mark "WI" with a fleur-de-lis below within a beaded circle within shield between dolphins on upper face of handle.ProvenanceEx Coll: Kenneth W. Bradshaw, Lincoln (sold and purchased by Colonial Williamsburg at Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., London, 1977.