Hello
This spoon has no town mark and the makers mark is not clear . Any advice on how to find date
Many thanks
Your spoon dates from a period when several assay offices left out their town mark from some hallmarks, apparently smaller items. They are normally London (because London assayed the greatest number of items) but could also be Exeter or Newcastle. Chester very rarely used a town mark but early Chester pieces are not often seen.
In this case we have a London mark, recognisable through the shape of the punch marks and also the maker’s which in this case is IL for John Lambe. The date letter O/o is problematic because there is no easy way of telling whether it is upper or lower case so your spoon could be 1789 or 1809. However John Lambe was probably not working in 1809 so I am sure that this lower case o for 1789.
Phil
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Thank you Phil
That is so helpful , and backs up what my research is telling me . It becomes a bit obsessive I’m finding in wanting to be as precise as possible with your findings. I find it frustrating when I can’t find the information I’m looking for .
Appreciate your time
Really difficult as it’s an overstamp. My best guess (and I’m not that confident) is that the underlying mark, to go with the 1805 date, is PB over WB for Peter & William Bateman. Later (after 1809 because of the mark registration date) it is possible that the mark was overstamped with SB over IB for Sarah & John William Blake. The damage caused by the overstamping plus the accumulated wear over 200 years makes interpretation conjectural only.
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