Porringer

A porringer is a shallow bowl, between 4 and 6 inches in diameter, and 1½" to 3" deep; the form originates in the medieval period in Europe and they were made in wood, ceramic, pewter and silver. They had flat, horizontal handles. Colonial porringers tended to have one handle, whereas European ones tend to have two handles on opposite sides, on which the owner's initials were sometimes engraved, and they occasionally came with a lid. Porringers resembled the smaller quaich, a Scottish drinking vessel.