antique (pre 1843) Newcastle STERLING SILVER sugar tongs

Description

These sugar tongs with spoon bowls on ends are the typical style in use during the 1700's up until the end of the Georgian period (early 1800's).
These are hand stamped with 4 hallmarks on the inside of tongs so it's difficult to show the marks but I will describe each one and tell you what it means: King George head (indicates a silver tax was paid on these);  lion passant stamp (indicates these tongs were tested to be 92.5% silver or sterling); town mark (3 castles which is the arms for Newcastle, UK) and also a maker mark (difficult to decipher but maybe "TW" ? ).
. Also these tongs measure 5 1/2" long and weigh 19.4 DWT (almost 1 Troy ounce).
If your eccentric you could use them at your next dinner party as ice tongs to place ice cubes in a person's mixed drink in a healthy manner ........your guests will be impressed when you tell them they were made almost 225 years ago !!!
These don't have a date letter which happened a lot with Newcastle sterling but since it shows the King's head stamp instead of Queen Victoria head, it has to have been made during the Georgian era and the style of the tongs is also typical of Georgian style (c.1770-1820's).
The hand chased design going around the edges is just spectacular and adds to their appeal and value and the previous owner had the silversmith also add his and her initials on top (see photo)..
Sterling silverwares from Newcastle are much much rarer than London made silverware since Newcastle didn't have a hallmark system for very long (1702-Victorian era......that's it !!!)
We will be putting up some more very rare 18th-early 19th century American coin and also European sterling silverwares in the upcoming weeks so check back from time to time.