William Cowell, Sr.
Porringer

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Porringer
Datec. 1704–1736
Made inBoston, Massachusetts, United States
MediumSilver
Dimensions1 15/16 × 5 3/8 × 7 7/8 in. (4.9 × 13.7 × 20 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.63.74
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Metals Study Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

A geometric porringer handle exhibiting a more complex configuration was introduced during the final quarter of the seventeenth century. This pattern, composed of circular, crescent, tablet, cross, and quatrefoil piercings, is based on contemporary English examples. In addition to William Cowell, Sr., craftsmen working throughout the principal urban centers, also produced this design (see B.69.93).

Technical notes: The bowl is raised up, and the handle cast. The center point may be obliterated by Cowell's stamp. 

Related examples:  Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, sale 971, May 14–15, 1948, lot 206.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff.  American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


ProvenanceButler family, Boston; Carl and Celia Jacobs, Southwick, Massachusetts, 1963; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1963; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Engraved on handle: RB[B superscript]H [possibly for Robert and Hannah Butler]
On center of bowl: mark of William Cowell, Sr. [Buhler and Hood, 1970, vol. I, p. 324, nos. 86–88]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

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