Hippolitus Poignand was born in Jersey in 1761, his parents or grandparents were probably Huguenot refugees that had fled France.
It is thought that he worked as a silversmith in Jersey during the 1780's and probably served an apprenticeship there.
He married the aptly named Margaret Bride at Saint Martin In The Fields, Westminster, London, on the 14th July 1792, prior to setting out for a new life in Calcutta, arriving there in 1793.
The 'star' device is similar to one used by another Calcutta silversmith of this period, Joseph Rondo, and I wonder if it may be a crude representation of the 'Ashoka Chakra' that is the centre of the modern Indian Flag.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka_Chakra
Hippolitus Poignand died in Calcutta in 1805.
Trev.