Benjamin Burt was the youngest son of John Burt, and the third to follow in his father’s footsteps, a common practice during the colonial period. A comparison of this porringer with another example from John Burt’s shop (see B.69.94) reveals slight variations in the casting patterns.

Related examples:  Benjamin Burt porringers in museum collections include Buhler and Hood 1970, vol. 1, pp. 165–67, nos. 212–14; Buhler 1972, vol. 1, p. 347, no. 306; Davidson and Stillinger 1985, p. 215; Johnston 1994, p. 13.

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.