Museum Collections

Samuel E. Hamlin followed in his father's footsteps as a gifted craftsman and pewterer, his career beginning in 1801 and continuing until 1856. Hamlin and his father, also named Samuel Hamlin, are particularly noted for their prodigious output of porringers, most having burned-on ears, or handles, of flowered type, such as on this example. Rhode Island pewterers, in general are remembered for their porringers, and their handles of flowered design are often referred to as Rhode Island handles. The senior Hamlin probably served his apprenticeship between 1760 and 1767 under Thomas Danforth II and possibly Jacob Whitmore, both of Middletown, Connecticut and is credited for first introducing the flowered handle into Rhode Island.