NEW ENGLAND PORRINGER—GARVAN 547 
popularity in London. Its close resemblance to the French écuelle 
and the existence of a few porringers with covers suggest the possi- 
bility that it was introduced by Huguenot craftsmen migrating to both 
England and America.’* Certainly the porringer by René Grignon, 
Huguenot emigre (pl. 3, fig. 1), strongly resembles work done in 
Canada by other French silversmiths (pl. 3, fig. 2), and at the same 
time seems to have been closely followed by Jeremiah Dummer in his 
porringer for unknown patrons whose initials were EK A (pl. 4, fig. 1). 
Moreover, both the Grignon porringer marked for a couple married 
in 1692 and the Dummer porringer have initials cut so as to read 
when the vessel is placed lip upward, as when used for service and 
not as a dish cover. 
At this point, the Huguenot, the English, and the American por- 
ringer seem very close in purpose, design, and ornament. All have 
initials on the open bow! side of the handle and piercings of the handle 
of tulips, crescents, and hearts contained in a vinelike silhouette. 
However, after 1690 the American silver porringer rapidly devel- 
oped along highly individual lines. In England the porringer gained 
little popularity and became restricted to the medical practice of 
cupping and bleeding. The French écuelle continued to develop as 
a large covered two-eared soup dish elaborately decorated in the 
Rococo fashion. But in America and especially in the Calvinistic 
colonies of New England and of New York the porringer, as intro- 
duced by the Huguenots or as developed from the skillet pot cover, 
represented a new and welcome addition to church plate models com- 
monly available.1® That it was closely associated with the refugee 
Calvinistic Huguenots robbed it of the Papist taint which hung over 
the great hoards of pirated Spanish plate occasionally seen in Boston.”” 
The basic chronology of American porringers rests upon the work- 
ing and death dates of their makers. The attribution of initials, while 
informative and of great interest, can only suggest the date of manu- 
facture. The following table indicates (1) the working dates of the 
silversmiths whose work is illustrated or discussed, and (2) the dates 
of those illustrated by Bigelow together with the handle types of each 
example: 
4 The best example of these, unmarked, but with a handle similar to John Coney’s 
work is in the Metropolitan Museum. An elaborate cover with gadrooning and cut card 
work surmounts a 6%-inch bowl. Francis H. Bigelow, Historic silver of the colonies and 
its makers, pp. 310-311. New York. 1931. 
15 Louis Carre, A guide to old French plate. New York. 1931. Illustrations unmarked. 
16 Samuel Sewall speaks of special measures taken to accommodate the Huguenots. 
S. Sewall, Diary, vol. 2, p. 262, note 407. 
17 Most famous was that of William Kidd, Gillam, Bradshaw and Witherly. ‘Iron chest 
of plate and pearls, 40 bails of East India goods, 13 other cases, and two slaves or servants.” 
February 1699-1700. Samuel Sewall, Diary, vol. 2, pp. 3-5, 7. 
