Description: Pewter (britannia) circular basin or bowl, a form that served many purposes, with a flared rim and an applied foot. The well shows signs of use with several knife scorings. Basins were one of the commonest hollowware forms during the 18th and 19th centuries. Those basins that were 8" or less primarily served as individual eating bowls, or waste or slop bowls in tea services; larger examples were most often used as wash basins. Except for the hammering found on some English basins, there is little difference between English and American basins. The term "bowl" was rarely used in early records except when describing such forms as a christening bowl or sugar bowl. Pewterers such as Samuel Pierce of Greenfield, Mass., called his footed basins "wash basins" and flat-bottomed basins, "basins".
Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1484 |