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Hello,

I have a small bowl with marks for London 1741. The makers mark is overtsruck by the assay marks. The sequencing of striking these marks appears to be lion passant/makers mark/leopards head crowned/date letter. I believe the maker is Robert Lucas but would appreciate anyones opinion on this. My research for this period has found only two makers with an L in script for the last letter of the mark (the first letter is,I believe, either an R or a P) and these are Robert Lucas or Paul Lamerie (who I have discounted).

Was it usual for the makers mark to be struck after the lion passant mark? I thought the makers mark was struck first.

Regards,
Trevor

Hi Trevor,

I don't think there's any mystery here.

The maker's mark would have been struck first, at Lucas's workshop. When the punch was applied, perhaps because of a slight dome to the base, the indentation was deeper at the top of the mark than the bottom:





Thus, when the Leopard's Head mark was struck at the assay office, the punch made contact with the shallower part of Lucas's mark, but when the Lion Passant mark was struck, the bottom (or top as it appears upside down) has not made contact with the deeper impression that the top of Lucas's mark has made.

Regards Trev.

Hi Trev,

As you correctly state, there is a slight dome to the base so, mystery solved (although why the assayer grouped the marks so close together when there was so much more room on the base of the bowl will probably remain a mystery).

Thank you for taking the time to reply and with such clarity.

Regards,
Trevor