Écuelle

Decorated with vegetables, herbs, and a trussed red grouse on the finial, this two-handled shallow bowl, or écuelle, was probably intended for porridge, which is defined in a 1728 English dictionary as “a liquid Food of Herbes, Flesh, &c.” French in origin, écuelles are rare in English silver. This example was made in London by Paul de Lamerie, son of a French émigré and one of the greatest eighteenth-century English silversmiths. In de Lamerie’s obituary in the London Evening Post of August 6, 1751, he is described as “particu­larly famous in making fine ornamental Plate” and having been “very instrumental in bringing that Branch of Trade to the perfection it is now in.”

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.