A very rare large William III Britannia standard* silver English bleeding bowl or porringer, the hand-raised bulbous bowl has a slightly convex base and a circular band at the rim struck with a clear set of English hallmarks for maker Richard Syng, London 1701. The cast open-work handle is also part marked with the silver guarantee mark, the Lion�s head erased, and has a later crest of a bull�s head above a coronet. These bowls were only made in England between circa 1680 and 1720, opinion as to their use is divided but they were most likely food vessels of some sort, possibly used for feeding the elderly or the sick. The porringer is of exceptional weight, size and quality, a great rarity in superb all original condition (excepting the crest which was added c 1770).Condition: In outstanding all original condition with no damage, no repair or restoration and minimal wear. Maker: Richard Syng London 1701Dimensions: Height: 49mm. Diameter: 136mm. Width with handle: 200mm. Weight: 218g*Britannia silver is an alloy of silver containing 11 ounces and 10 pennyweight silver in the pound troy, equivalent to 95.83% by weight silver, the balance being usually copper.This higher standard of silver content of 958 parts per thousand was introduced in England by Act of Parliament in 1697 to replace sterling silver (92.5% silver) as the obligatory standard for items of ''wrought plate''. The lion passant gardant hallmark denoting sterling was replaced with ''the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia'', and the leopard''s head mark of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths replaced with a ''lion''s head erased''.Britannia standard silver was introduced as part of the great recoinage scheme of William III from 1696, when attempts were made to limit the clipping and melting of sterling silver coinage. A higher standard for wrought plate meant that sterling silver coins could not easily be used as a source of raw material because additional fine silver, whi...