Thought these marks were interesting. I have a set of three bead pattern tablespoons from George Smith, two assayed in London in 1784 (no duty marks) with a small George Smith maker's mark, and one simply stamped three times with a large George Smith maker's mark and a small one.
I do apologise for the reproduction of the small maker's mark, but I need to clean in here. But you can make it out under the loop.
I can only assume this has something to do with the rush to meet the December 1 deadline when the duty came in. One possibility is that the spoons had been paid for and either they forget to send one for assay, or some apprentice destroyed it in the finishing or finished it in the wrong pattern or something, and Mr Smith decided to take the risk rather than now have to pay the duty himself. But I am sure there are other scenarios.
Many thanks Frank
