A porringer is a small, usually pewter, ish from which Europeans and colonial Americans ate their gruel or porridge, or other hot or cold dishes. They were usually about 4" to 6" in diameter; 1½" to 3" deep; had a flat, decorated handle at one end, on which the owner's initials were sometimes ingraved; and occasionally came with a lid. It resembles the quaich, a Scottish drinking vessel. A spoon of the same material – or possibly wood, silver, Sheffield plate, or britannia metal – was used to eat from the porringer, and occasionally other materials were used to construct the porringer itself.