help identifying maker and date for London tablespoon

[ninothedog]

Hi All - I'm looking at an old spoon for a friend and would like to be able to tell her everything about it. I see a lion passant indicating silver and a crowned leopard telling me London 1478-1822, but I cannot be sure about the year and am having trouble finding anything on the maker. I read the maker's mark as "LL" and the year as a gothic/old English letter "S," indicating either 1773 or 1695, but the letter's a bit 'smeared' and I can't be sure. I think the pattern is "Old English" and it's 8-1/2" long and 62 grams. - All comments are welcome and thank you for taking a look. - Nino

[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39660053/silver/dy-tablespoon-2.png[/img]

[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39660053/silver/dy-tablespoon-3.png[/img]

[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39660053/silver/dy-tablespoon-4.png[/img]

[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39660053/silver/dy-tablespoon-5.png[/img]

[ninothedog]

I did something wrong above. Here are the images:

[rhodrit]

Hello Nino,
The spoon is dated 1773-74 and you are correct in the old English pattern attribution. This helps you date the spoon as the pattern is much later than the 1695 you were considering. I believe the makers mark is probably I L and likely to be John Lambe. Other forum members may be able to confirm this.
Hope this helps,
Rhodri

[ninothedog]

Thanks, Rhodri - That's great information.

[ninothedog]

I did a little more research based on Rhodri's comment and agree the mark looks like that of John Lambe. On another site it says John Lamb's first recorded mark was February 8, 1774, so this must be one of the first pieces made under his own name. By "recorded mark," I'm assuming the mark was registered with some authority rather than meaning it's the earliest mark found on a piece. Is that right?

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