MID 17TH CENTURY SILVER TWIN HANDLED PORRINGER
CIRCA 1660-1690
Auction: 24 June 2014 at 13:00 BST
Description
unmarked, the slightly tapered bowl with twin S scroll cast handles with raised thumbpieces, the body engraved to front with feather mantling with initials Mc / IM within and to reverse with similar mantling with trade symbol 4 / XX within, raised on a simple foot
Dimensions
9.5cm high, 9.3oz
Footnote
Note: Although regularly associated as a merchant or tradesman's mark the unusual symbol to the reverse of this piece is seen in various forms across Europe. While it has several possible origins, it regularly falls aback to the Quattuor Coronati (the four Romans who were martyred for Christianity). Another Christian idea suggests it is a stylised form of the lamb holding the flag. Perhaps the simplest and most believable is that the symbol represents an old set of scales where one arm was considerably longer than the other, this theory carrying more weight as it connects closely with the trade angle and also as the symbol is seen on weights and measures.