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Hello all. I am new here so thanks for the accept. I have a silver, London tankard, with a gothic S that I take to indicate date of 1773 (maybe 1793?) The maker's mark is a clearly a J star S. Trying to pin this down. Might it be James Stamp? John Scofield? John Spackman II? I tried to upload pics without success. Also, there is an image on the outside of some sort of bird with a single sheaf in its beak standing atop an inverted diamnond-shaped object (possibly an initial V) which is on top of a striped bar (?) Scratching my head.[img]blob:https://imgur.com/f8cdfee6-dbaf-4e9d-9148-7dd5a7af5e53[/img]

picture of marks

That is definitely the J*S mark which is probably John Scofield. The problem with identification of marks during the mid-Georgian period is that two essential registers have been lost, namely the 1739-1758 Smallworkers' Register and the 1758-1773 Largeworkers' Register. Your tankard is dated 1773 and the maker's name would have been recorded in the latter register. Circumstantial evidence has allowed the identification of a number of the affected marks and in this case John Scofield is a likely candidate. The "bible" of London marks, Grimwade's London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837: Their Marks and Lives identifies it as "? John Scofield".

Phil

I sometimes dream about those missing registries, and what they looked like, and where they might be discovered.....priceless treasures they would be!