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Porringer
Edward Winslow (American, 1669–1753)
1715
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
5 x 20.5 x 15 cm (1 15/16 x 8 1/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Barbara Boylston Bean
Accession Number1976.640
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsSilver hollowware
This early keyhole-style porringer, which descended in the Boylston family, is said to be related to another made by Edward Winslow for the same family and engraved “B / W E.”
This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.
This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.
DescriptionThe raised vessel with center point visible on both sides of bowl has a wide low dome in its base, rising to a broad convex side, and a nearly vertical rim. A cast keyhole-style handle is soldered to the body.
Marks
"EW" over a fleur-de-lis within a shield is marked to the left of the porringer handle, on everted rim.
InscriptionsFacing the bowl, "B / T S " is engraved on handle in shaded roman capitals.
ProvenanceThe porringer was probably made for Thomas Boylston (d. 1739) and Sarah Morecock (1696-1774), the daughter of Nicholas Morecock, at about the time of their marriage on May 4, 1715. The porringer descended to their daughter Mary (b. 1722), the wife of Captain Benjamin Hallowell (1724-1799), a Loyalist, who was forced to leave the country in 1776. Their son, Ward Hallowell (1747-1828), was adopted by his mother's brother, Nicholas Boylston (1716-1771), who gave him the Boylston family name The porringer probably passed to Ward Nicholas (Hallowell) Boylston from his mother, Mary Hallowell, and thence to his son, John Lane Boylston (1789-1847) and his wife Sarah Brooks (b. 1793); to their son Thomas (b 1819) and his wife Caroline A. Fowle; to their son, Thomas Boylston, Jr. (1848-1870) and his wife Florence Randall (b. c. 1851); to their son, Ward Nicholas Boylston (1871-1924) and his second wife, Alice Meehan (b. 1938); to their daughter, the donor, Barbara Boylston Bean (1913-1975), wife of Paul W. Bean (d. 1971). The porringer was part of a larger bequest from the last surviving member of the Boylston family.
Sources:
Massachusetts Vital Records - Index to Marriages, 1869-1870, Vol. 227, p.341; Massachusetts Archives, Marriages - 1895, 452:459; Massachusetts Vital Records, Births 1870-1871, 233: p. 423; Eugene Chalmers Fowle, ed. Gary Boyd Roberts and Neil D. Thompson, Descendants of George Fowle (1610/11?-1682) of Charlestowne, Massachusetts, (Boston: New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1990), p. 139; Princeton, Massachusetts, Vital Records to the end of the year 1849 (Worcester, Ma.: Franklin P. Rice, 1902) p. 13, 81, 151; Roxbury Vital Records to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, Ma.: The Essex Institute, 1925-26), 1:36; II:470-71; Portland, Maine Press Herald (June 30, 1975), p. 2; Telephone inquiry, February 5, 1998, Lone Oak Cemetery, Leesburg, Florida; Thomas Bellows Wyman, The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown (Boston: David Clapp and Son, 1879), Vol. A-J:105-08; Thomas B. Wyman, Jr., "Pedigree of the Family of Boylston" NEHGS 7 (April 1853), pp. 145-150.
Sources:
Massachusetts Vital Records - Index to Marriages, 1869-1870, Vol. 227, p.341; Massachusetts Archives, Marriages - 1895, 452:459; Massachusetts Vital Records, Births 1870-1871, 233: p. 423; Eugene Chalmers Fowle, ed. Gary Boyd Roberts and Neil D. Thompson, Descendants of George Fowle (1610/11?-1682) of Charlestowne, Massachusetts, (Boston: New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1990), p. 139; Princeton, Massachusetts, Vital Records to the end of the year 1849 (Worcester, Ma.: Franklin P. Rice, 1902) p. 13, 81, 151; Roxbury Vital Records to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, Ma.: The Essex Institute, 1925-26), 1:36; II:470-71; Portland, Maine Press Herald (June 30, 1975), p. 2; Telephone inquiry, February 5, 1998, Lone Oak Cemetery, Leesburg, Florida; Thomas Bellows Wyman, The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown (Boston: David Clapp and Son, 1879), Vol. A-J:105-08; Thomas B. Wyman, Jr., "Pedigree of the Family of Boylston" NEHGS 7 (April 1853), pp. 145-150.