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A George III pair of serving tongs with bright-cut engraving made in Dublin circa 1790 by Benjamin Taitt.

Price: £595.00

An unusually long (16.5 cm) pair of George III sugar tongs (usable as ice tongs) with bright-cut decoration made in Edinburgh, circa 1790 by William Auld, initialled {JM} on the bow.

Price: £375.00

A George III pair of small tongs (10.2 cm) with threaded borders and rectangular bowls made in York circa 1810 by William Astley.

Price: £325.00

2 pairs available

William Astley of York appears to have succeeded to his master Richard Clark's business in 1797 and worked until around 1825 (during this time he took 6 apprentices). Astley had financial problems in 1812 and resorted to assigning all his assets to trustees- this worked until 1813 when his house, workshop and stock were all auctioned. He re-established his business, in a smaller way, in 1813 and died in 1833.

The assay records for York (extant from 1805-1821) are very detailed and show that Astley did continue to take objects to the assay office after 1813 but in much smaller quantities (the final time being in 1821). The majority were rings but he also produced, in addition to cutlery and wine labels, a 'sword scabbard mounting', several 'katheters' and a number of 'pairs of tongs' (some undesignated, some sugar and some tea). The form of these tongs, not to my knowledge elsewhere recorded seem likely to be one of the tea tongs (not by the early 19th century likely to refer to sugar nips) or the undesignated ones.

A pair of Victorian 'New Gothic' pattern grape shears made in London in 1874 by George Adams.

Price: £295.00

The design for New Gothic pattern was registered by Chawner and Company on December 13th 1854 and appears in their extant pattern book. In his Silver Flatware (1983) Ian Pickford comments of New Gothic pattern that 'odd pieces may be found; building a service would be extremely difficult'.

A pair of George III chop tongs made around 1780, unmarked.
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Provenance: Collection of A. B. L. Dove FSA

A George III pair of sugar tongs made in Edinburgh circa 1775 by Alexander Aitchison & Sons, initialled {HT}.
Price:

William Irvine Fortescue, in his article 'Alexander Aitchison I and Alexander Aitchison II: Edinburgh Goldsmiths of the Eighteenth Century' (pp. 35-56 of Silver Studies 33), reveals many details about both Alexander Aitchison I (1717-1775) and his son, Alexander Aitchison II (1747-1807). Their partnership began in 1770 and ended in 1775- however the maker's mark continued in use until at least 1778 (when 10 tablespoons are recorded bearing it). Fortescue writes that 'recorded silver with the AA&S mark is relatively scarce'. He mentions two large pieces and a small amount of flatware.

Alexander Aitchison II (1747-1807) was an important figure in the political radicalism prevalent in 1780s Edinburgh. Aitchison was involved in the early stages of what became 'the Pike Plot' of 1792 with fellow goldsmith David Downie and Robert Watt, a wine merchant. Aitchison only attended the first meeting of 'the Committee of Ways and Means' and then distanced himself from the others. When Downie and Watt were tried for treason in 1794 Aitchison was one of the witnesses against them.

A William IV pair of cast naturalistic sugar nips made in Birmingham circa 1830 by Joseph Wilmore.

Price: £245.00

A Victorian pair of rococo sugar nips (in 1750s style) made in Edinburgh in 1884 by MacKay and Chisholm (there is a part set of marks on the second ring).

Price: £225.00

A George III pair of toy bright-cut sugar tongs (7.7 cm long) made in London in 1799 by Peter, Ann and William Bateman..

Price: £225.00

These tongs are of an unusually small size and have an unusually narrow window for their assay. When Hester Bateman retired in 1790 the firm she had pioneered was taken over by her sons Jonathan and Peter but Jonathan died in April 1791. Peter then took Jonathan's widow Ann as a partner in the business and this lasted until January 1800 when Jonathan and Ann's son William was also made a partner. The maker's mark on these tongs appear to be Peter and Ann overstruck by the new mark of Peter, Ann and William. This, along with the date letter used from 30th May 1799 until 29th May 1800, means that these pieces would seem to have been assayed between January 1800 and the 29th May of that year (most likely in January when the partnership changed).

A George II miniature or toy pair of sugar nips (5.8 cm from left to right) , c. 1750, unmarked.
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A pair of George III sugar tongs with cast rococo arms made in London circa 1770 by Thomas Woodhouse.

Price: £195.00

A George III pair of sugar tongs with cast arms imitative of cut steel made in London circa 1770 by Thomas Woodhouse, initialled {JES}.

Price: £195.00

A George III pair of Old Sheffield Plate sugar nips, c. 1760 .
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Although pairs of sugar tongs are often found in Old Sheffield Plate there appears to be no reference to a pair of sugar nips in the relevant reference books or those on Old Sheffield Plate.

Two pairs of George V 'Elizabethan' pattern sugar tongs, in graduated sizes (12.4cm and 13.5 cm long) , made in London in 1926 by Goldsmiths' and Silversmiths' Company, crested for Herbert.

Price: £155.00

The fact that these two pairs of sugar tongs were made as part of the same service suggests that it was large enough to contain sets of tea and coffee spoons (the coffee cups and spoons being smaller than those for tea).

A George III pair of sugar tongs with bright-cut decoration by Jacques Quesnel of Jersey (also marked on the other arm), circa 1790, initialled {JED}.

Price: £145.00

A pair of antique silver sugar tongs with bright-cut decoration and decorated circular bowls, by Thomas Allen Sheffield 1778, initialled {EH}.
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Graham Hodges records a pair of sugar tongs dated 1777 but using Allen's incuse maker's mark (click here) .

A George III pair of sugar tongs with Feather-edge decoration and engraved shells on the shoulders made in London circa 1770 by John Faux and George Love (marked with maker's mark on both arms).

Price: £110.00

A pair of George III sugar tongs with a decorated bow, beaded arms and acorn bowls, made in London c. 1775 by James Stamp.
Price: £95.00

A pair of George III sugar tongs with shaped top and threaded borders made in London in 1792 by Henry Chawner, initialled {P [over] J A}.

Price: £85.00

The London Assay Office revised a number of hallmarking regulations in 1791 so that many smallwares, previously exempt, now had to be fully hallmarked- this included wine labels and sugar tongs.

A pair of antique silver Old English thread sugar tongs, Edinburgh circa 1800 by Turnbull & Easton (of Glasgow), initialled H.
Price: £85.00