having difficulty with this mark

[sharliewho]

I am a novice silver collector. I have studied the information on the site, but have been unable to recognize the mark on a salt cellar that my father gave me. Please help, if you can, thank you in advance for your time. I believe that one of the marks is the lions head signifying London, but the marks are worn down. I was also confused because they were not arranged left to right.




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[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

Your salt was assayed in London in 1748 and although the maker is none to clear it appears to be David Hennell I, a known maker of salts.
This arrangment of marks was quite normal on pieces such as this.
Could you post a clearer picture of the makers mark?

Trev.
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[sharliewho]

This really is the best I could do as far as a better, clearer photo. I haven't invested in a magnifying glass yet for better pictures, since this is all very new to me. Thanks you so much for helping, I really did try to figure it out for myself to no avail.


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[dognose]

Hi,

Thanks for posting the better photo', I'm happy thats the second mark of David Hennell I entered in June 1739.
David Hennell was born 1712, he completed his apprenticeship to Edward Wood in 1735 and he followed his master's trade as a salt maker and was the first in a very important family of silversmiths, he retired in 1773 to become Deputy Warden of the Goldsmiths Company, he died in 1785.

Trev.
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[sharliewho]

Incredibly interesting facts. I'm amazed at the depth of the knowledge on this site. I never would've been able to figure that out on my own. I am just getting started with silver. Again, I greatly appreciate your assistance. I'm going to buy a book on makers mark this weekend, and hopefully will be able to eventually recognize the marks more independently.
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