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dog nose fork - updated 2011

This dog nose fork is about sixty years too late in style for a date of 1777. It is 20.7 centimetres long and weighs 66 grams. The hallmarks are London 1777, makers William Sumner and Richard Crossley. There is also a French import mark, the tiny oval to the right of the date letter, but this tells us nothing as it was most likely applied to the donor piece, a Hanoverian pattern table spoon. The terminal has been reshaped and the tines added. You can just make out a thin, darker line of solder where the stem begins to broaden towards the tines. Pickford illustrates an almost identical fork, page 69 figures 65 and 66. Mine shows slight tine wear and Pickford's much more so both have been used, one quite heavily. Three tine forks are notorious for wear compared to later four tine forks. I wonder if these forks were commissioned as replacements for genuine earlier ones that had simply worn out as it is now difficult to find the genuine article with full tines.

Back Available on loan for reference purposes several