This mark with it’s very distinctive dogtooth to top and bottom is found on small buckles, mainly stock buckles, with the 1756 —1784 Lion Passant . No examples seen with a duty mark, nor with the pre 1756 Lion Passant.
There are at least two punches, one has the pellet slightly higher , and has a different top mid serif to the W . Both types are illustrated above, the left one is on a stock buckle , the right on a pair of small shoe buckles. Both buckles date stylistically in my view to around 1760, perhaps earlier. Certainly they would both be archaic by 1775. — although bucklemakers did produce deliberately “retro “ styles .
I suspect this may perhaps be a mark of Richard Lewis Wotton entered in the lost smallworkers register in the late 1750’s. Grimwade ( 2459) gives his only mark , entered 30 July 1760 as a smallworker in Hoxton Market . I have examined the copy register entry of this mark and can confirm it is not one of the ones above . Wotton appears in PR1773 as a smallworker so presumably survived until that date ! But I have seen no evidence to Wotton making buckles. I am surprised that I have never heard of any nips or tongs attributed to this mark.
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