www.925-1000.com

Sorry to sound ignorant but would anyone please resolve this dilemma?

The tablespoon has the initials W•S which I assumed would refer to William Seaman with a hallmark date of 1834. The t, however, looks more like the 1794 shape, plus the leopard has the pre-1820 crown. That would make William Seaman around 13 or 14!

There's probably something really obvious that I've missed but I'll take the embarrassment in the name of education.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

The hallmark is London, 1794, in particular because of the crowned leopard's head. There are several possible candidates for W·S including William Stephenson, William Simons, William Sutton and two who were both called William Sumner, but with no known relationship. William Sumner I, who registered a mark like the one on your spoon some time after 1788, was the only one registered as a spoon maker although that does not preclude any of the others from having produced spoons too.

So, no easy answer I'm afraid...

Phil

You are correct in ascribing this assay mark to 1794/95 and thus ruling out William Seaman.
There were however numerous W (pellet)S marks in the period, of which the William Summer I and II,as spoon makers must be a good suspects. However please remember that many other makers either bought in spoons from unregistered guys or other spoon makers and had them assayed in their name, or made spoons as another item for sale . William Sharp, who was registered as a bucklemaker is an example of the latter category as I believe he may have also made spoons.

Thank you both for the information.

I don't find a great deal of pre-Victorian silver but, even so, a copy of Grimwade would be so handy as online identification resources aren't as comprehensive or that easy to find. Unfortunately the cost of his book is a little prohibitive for the use it would get. Shame that someone can't put it onto a CD - I suspect that they'd sell loads.