Paten

Paten

Plate


circa 1758 – 1790 (Date manufactured/created)
Pewter
, 8 in Diameter
This is one of a pair of plates in the museum collection made by Jacob Whitmore, a pewterer in Middletown, Connecticut. It is called a paten because it was used during communion service at the Zion Episcopal Church in North Branford. Both plates in the collection are engraved with the initials "AT."
Pewter is a metal alloy composed mainly of tin. Varying percentages of other metals like copper, antimony, bismuth, and lead can be added to give strength and durability to the tin. Sometimes, especially in American pewter, the lead content was fairly high, and people could get lead poisoning from ingesting food and drink that had absorbed lead from tableware.
Gift of Miss Sophia Webster of Burlington, New Jersey, in 1902
HW1902.209