Mercy Ashworth - Newcastle - Unregistered Mark?

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dognose
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Mercy Ashworth - Newcastle - Unregistered Mark?

Post by dognose »

Hi,

I would be interested in members' opinions as to whether this is a Mercy Ashworth mark.

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According to Jackson's and Gill's, she only entered two sets of marks, one set in 1785 and another set in 1792, neither of these marks contain a pellet, but the mark shown does. Is this possibly an unregistered mark?
The date of these spoons would appear to be 1786/7 as the Newcastle Goldsmiths Company changed the outline of their Lion Passant in 1787, this coupled with the right facing Duty mark would appear to give the above date.

I have shown for comparison purposes the mark of Langlands and Robertson on a spoon of similar age.

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Mercy Ashworth (nee Landell) entered her mark as a widow at Newcastle Assay Office in 1785, she had been running her deceased husband Michael's business since 1776, that of an Ironmongers at Durham, he was also a banker. As a Silversmith she was known to be active 1785-1803, with her shop being situated in the Market Place at Durham, she died at the age of 88 in 1822.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Trev.
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buckler
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Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:52 am
Location: England, Warwickshire

Post by buckler »

I do not see enough Newcastle silver to be able to know the Newcastle Lions Passant - but certainly from the Langlands and Robertson mark it looks similar to a known Newcastle LPG. Gill does not cover the Newcastle LPG's at all and Jackson fudges the issue. Is there any good source of sketches or photos of the sequences from 1750 -1800 period ?
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