American Silver Porringer

Object Details

Object Essay

Elias Pelletreau made porringers in several styles for his cosmopolitan clients, who demanded both traditional New York and New England styles. The three simple piercings of this handle are characteristic of New York-style porringers of the 1760s. The small, half-pint capacity of this porringer is unusual. Pelletreau was evidently never fluent as an engraver, and throughout his career used simple, block-style initials such as these whenever possible.^{1_{Failey 1971, 72–73.}} Because Matthew Mulford of East Hampton is recorded in one of the surviving Pelletreau account books as a customer for hollowware, the inscription may be for Esther Mulford.^{2_{Ibid., 122.}}

Pelletreau was a leading citizen and goldsmith of Southampton, Long Island. He trained his son, John (1755–1822), to follow him in the craft, and John, in turn, trained his son, William Smith Pelletreau (1786–1842), to carry on the business. They worked in a shop adjacent to the family home on Main Street. Both the workshop and the house were constructed in the late 17th century. Although the house was torn down many years ago, the shop has been restored and houses a collection of Pelletreau tools and artifacts.^{3_{Turpin, 93–94, 118, 120. The authors would like to thank Robert Keene, Southampton Town Historian, for information regarding the Pelletreau workshop. The workshop is owned by the Southampton Colonial Society, which also administers the Southampton Historical Museum, and is open to the public by appointment.}}

Jennifer F. Goldsborough and Barbara McLean Ward

Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.