why is this passant different

[blonde_minx]

Hi, i have this early Georgian Sugar Basket made by Robert Hennell I & David Hennell, the marks are clear but the lion passant mark has a crown above it, i have never seen this marking before, does anyone know why its like this

[dognose]

Hi,

Can you post a sharper image of the marks?

Trev.

[blonde_minx]

Hi Trev, Ive just given the marks another clean , hope this is better

[oel]

Hi All,

R H
D H for; Robert Hennell I & David Hennell II 1795..1801
(registered Jul 1795) London date letter U for 1795-96

The Lion Passant could be over striking an old maker’s mark of David Hennell I 1739...1755
(registered c1739). Robert and David were perhaps selling off their inheritance under their own name.




Regards,

Oel

[agphile]

Looks to me more like the sort of Assay Office mistake that you occasionally come across: an extra crowned leopard's head punched in error and corrected by overstriking with the lion passant.

[oel]

Yes I thought so too but the shape of the shield looks smaller as the shape of the shield of the crowned leopard's head.

Oel

[buckler]

As Agphile comments it looks like a Leopart head that's been struck over. My suspicion is that the silversmith reused some scrap silver with a pre-existing mark, a theory that is borne out by the considerable wear on the older mark.

[oel]

Hi Buckler,

For the sake of argument.
To my knowledge an assay office mark was only punched, after the maker has put his authorized makers’ mark, and always in combination with date letter and lion passant.
The assay offices in Britain to my knowledge had the hallmarks spread in a small cluster on the object or in line with each other. Depending on the form and size of the reused assayed scrap silver we should find more than only a left over of an old Crowned Leopard head. Unless we talk scrap silver which had never seen the assay office with only a crowned maker’s mark.

Regards,

Oel