The two-handled bowl, known as brandy-wine bowl in the Netherlands, demonstrates the persistence of strong cultural traditions in the New York area long after the British seized control from the Dutch in 1664. Typically, the Netherlandish prototypes are fashioned in a lobate shape, on a high foot, with restrained ornament.  They are associated with the social gathering known as the kindermaal, which celebrated the arrival of a newborn; however, its use in America was not limited to that occasion since it was often employed at weddings and funerals as well. The bowl was filled with raisins soaked in wine, which were served with a ceremonial spoon (see B.92.1).

Technical notes: The body is raised, and the handles are twisted wire. Following a Continental practice, Kierstede incorporated a French coin, an ecu aux palmes, dated 1693, into the bottom of the bowl.

Related examples:  Buhler and Hood 1970, vol. 1, pp. 230–31, no. 329; Safford 1983, pp. 14–15, nos. 12, 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.