Anyone know the maker?

[techsol]

Hi, I have this silver lidded pot hallmarked for London 1807. I am have trouble identifying the maker, the initials are WP separated by a heart shaped pellet, I would be grateful for any help in identifying who this may be.

[dognose]

Hi,

Possibly William Parker (Grimwade 3266). The London Company recorded their maker's marks by inking the punches and then impressing the mark onto the pages of the register. Such a method often led to the loss of detail of the mark, what started as a star, square or heart device, often ended up appearing as a pellet in the register. I've noted several examples of this loss of detail in the past, perhaps one of the most notable is the spoonmaker Thomas Northcote's mark (Grimwade 2853), on the very rare occasion that you find a perfect impression of his mark on a spoon, it is clearly a six-pointed star between the 'T' and the 'N', and not a simple cross that appears in the reproduction in Grimwades'. Another example is the mark of Samuel Goodbehere and Edward Wigan (Grimwade 2516), again, when seen clearly it contains a diamond rather than a pellet.

I have not seen that heart mark before, but William Parker is certainly a possibility.

Regards Trev.

[techsol]

Thanks Trev, that certainly sounds plausible.

I think the detail of the marks has remained very clear because they where punched on the inside, at the bottom of the pot and are therefore subject to a lot less wear.