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Lot Essay
The maker John Smith became free in August 1702 and had leave to strike his touch in 1703, See Cotterell's Old Pewter. The Royal portraits of William III and Queen Mary are therefore either retrospective as the reigning monarch at the time was Queen Anne or is it possible the busts represent Queen Anne and Prince George for the portraits differ from those on the other porringer in the sale, see lot 45. The entwined cypher however is identical which is attributed by the Victoria and Albert Museum and other commentators as the cypher of William III and Queen Mary.
The porringer can be compared to an example in the Victoria and Albert Museum by John Waite from the Alfred Yeates bequest (M.51-1945) but this example does not have the three prongs to the cover and has a double portrait to the inside as opposed to a single portrait of William III. See Anthony North, Pewter at the Victoria and Albert Museum, No.116 and Cotterell Old Pewter pl.LXI d-f. A similar porringer is in the collection of the Worshipful Company, see the 1979 Supplementary Catalogue, No. 501/32. A lidless porringer by Samuel Lawrence with a portrait bust of William III in the bowl was sold Christies 1st May 2007, The David Little collection, lot 94. A similar porringer to this is in the Worshipful Company collection 501/31.
For a Queen Anne and Prince George commemorative porringer see the W.C.O.P. collection 501/1. This example has a depiction of William III and the treaty of Ryswick in the base and has similar dolphin ears Another similar by John Langford commemorating William III and the Duke of Marlborough is illustrated by John Davis, Pewter at Colonial Williamsburg, No.184.
For a discussion of porringers by David Moulson in the W.C.O.P. collection, see The Journal of the Pewter Society Spring 2010 pp.7-15.
The porringer can be compared to an example in the Victoria and Albert Museum by John Waite from the Alfred Yeates bequest (M.51-1945) but this example does not have the three prongs to the cover and has a double portrait to the inside as opposed to a single portrait of William III. See Anthony North, Pewter at the Victoria and Albert Museum, No.116 and Cotterell Old Pewter pl.LXI d-f. A similar porringer is in the collection of the Worshipful Company, see the 1979 Supplementary Catalogue, No. 501/32. A lidless porringer by Samuel Lawrence with a portrait bust of William III in the bowl was sold Christies 1st May 2007, The David Little collection, lot 94. A similar porringer to this is in the Worshipful Company collection 501/31.
For a Queen Anne and Prince George commemorative porringer see the W.C.O.P. collection 501/1. This example has a depiction of William III and the treaty of Ryswick in the base and has similar dolphin ears Another similar by John Langford commemorating William III and the Duke of Marlborough is illustrated by John Davis, Pewter at Colonial Williamsburg, No.184.
For a discussion of porringers by David Moulson in the W.C.O.P. collection, see The Journal of the Pewter Society Spring 2010 pp.7-15.