D2536. Blue and White Porringer

Delft, circa 1720

Marked with numeral 2 in blue

The interior painted in the center with a stylized lily amidst a profusion of floral motifs, the rim with a flowering band, and affixed at the rim with two dashed handles.

DIMENSIONS
Width: 21.5 cm. (8.5 in.)

PROVENANCE
Dutch Private Collection

NOTE
During the Middle Ages, it was common for people to share eating utensils, including porringers, which were typically crafted from wood. In the late fourteenth century, the first earthenware porringers emerged. These larger communal vessels often had two handles, making it easier to pass them between diners. By the fifteenth century, pewter porringers were introduced. Although porringers gradually evolved into individual eating utensils, they continued to feature two handles, as seen in this example.

SIMILAR EXAMPLES
A similar porringer is depicted in Van Geenen 2017, on p. 287. Another comparable porringer, featuring a blue band along the upper rim, is housed at Het Princessehof Museum in Leeuwarden, on loan from the Ottema Kingma Society (inv. no. OKS 1986-057). The Nederlands Openluchtmuseum in Arnhem also houses two porringers with similar characteristics (inv. nos. NOM.36824-67 and NOM.38739-69).