Descriptif du lot
This porringer is apparently the mate to an identical one by Gray at the Museum of Fine arts, Boston, engraved with the same initials and matching asterisk, a distinctive cross with two dots. This porringer is scratch-engraved on the base "No 1," which supports the assumption that there were other matching porringers.
The initials "SMA" are those of Silas Atkins, a Boston marriner, who married Mary Gyles on March 30, 1742. Captain Atkins died in 1779, and his probate inventory listed three porringers among his household plate. (see Kathryn C. Buhler, American Silver vol. I, 1972, fig.220, p.261.)
The initials "SMA" are those of Silas Atkins, a Boston marriner, who married Mary Gyles on March 30, 1742. Captain Atkins died in 1779, and his probate inventory listed three porringers among his household plate. (see Kathryn C. Buhler, American Silver vol. I, 1972, fig.220, p.261.)