Porringer
John Austin
Category
Silver
Date
1683 - 1684
Materials
Silver, sterling
Measurements
18.7 x 23.6 x 15.9 cm; 810 g (Weight)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 516497
Summary
A two-handled porringer and cover, silver (sterling), mark probably of John Austin, London, 1683/4. The deep U-shaped bowl is raised; the undecorated sides are slightly everted at the rim. Soldered to the base is a low collet foot, C-shaped in cross section. Inscribed on the base are the initials ‘I*T’. The pull-off cover is raised and soldered to a flange. The flat reeded rim surrounds the moulded stepped and slightly domed centre, which is applied with cut card decoration and an openwork finial in the form of a ball of overlapping acanthus leaves. Heraldry: None Hallmarks: Fully marked on both the side of the porringer and the top of the cover: ‘JA’ (probably for John Austin*), leopard’s head (London), lion passant (sterling), and ‘f’ (1683/4) * David M Mitchell: Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London Their Lives and Marks, London, 2017, pp 341-2 Scratch weight: None Exhibitions: The Age of Charles II, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1960-1
Full description
NOTE ON PORRINGERS AND JOHN AUSTIN Porringers are two-handled vessels which sometimes come with covers. They were popular between 1655 and 1720 and pre-date the taller two-handled cups which became fashionable in the second quarter of the 18th century. They were made in a variety of sizes, from miniatures for dolls’ houses to large heavily embossed examples which often come with stands. The cover of this porringer is decorated with cut card work, which was made popular by the Huguenot silversmiths arriving in England in the late 17th century. Cut card work is made from a thin sheet of silver, pierced in a decorative pattern (often stylised scrolling foliage), which is then soldered to the object, in this case the cover, so that it appears an integral part of the whole. David Mitchell records several instances of the ‘JA’ script monogram mark between 1682 and 1697 on large vessels such as flagons, tankards, cups and porringers. He believes it to have belonged to John Austin, who gained his freedom in 1678. He took on four apprentices between 1682 and 1693, and is recorded as having stock valued at £150 in 1694, which suggests he ran a successful business probably as both a retailer and silversmith. [1] [1] David M. Mitchell: Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London Their Lives and Marks, London, 2017, pp.341-342. NOTE ON THE PURCHASE OF SILVER CONNECTED TO THE HUDLESTON FAMILY. Christie’s inventory of 1971 states that the porringer is ‘said to have been originally the property of Father John Hudleston OSB, famous for the part he played in the preservation of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester; subsequently Chaplain to Catherine of Braganza and Confessor to Charles II’. No record has been discovered to explain Christie’s attribution. Nor does the porringer appear on an unnamed and undated valuation of Lord Fairhaven’s silver, which includes objects bought in the late 1930s as well as family silver. It is therefore presumed that the porringer was acquired, possibly from David Black, of 1 Burlington Gardens, London W1, who invoiced Lord Fairhaven on 9 April 1952, for ‘Repairs to Antique Silver Porringer and Cover’. As this was the only porringer owned by Lord Fairhaven, and there is evidence of a repair where a handle of the porringer punctured one side, it is likely that the porringer came into the collection between 1938 and April 1952. Lord Fairhaven was christened Huttleston after his maternal great-grandmother, Mary Eldredge Huttleston (1811-1899), who married Rowland Rogers (1809-1861). As the spellings of names varied until recent times, the surname Huttleston might easily have been spelled Huddleston or Hudleston. Lord Fairhaven asked the Royal College of Arms to trace a link between his family and that of Father John Hudleston. They were unable to do so, but that did not discourage him from acquiring both this porringer and the tankard (516517).
Provenance
By repute: Father John Huddleston (1608-1696) (Urban) Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Baron Fairhaven (1896-1966) bequeathed by Lord Fairhaven to the National Trust along with the house and the rest of the contents National Trust
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, the Fairhaven Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
John Austin, goldsmith