Gabriel Wirgman and George Wintle are often confused. Gabriel Wirgman entered his first mark as a small-worker on 22nd June 1772, but had in fact been working from as early as 1767. He died in 1791, his will being proved on 23rd September 1791. Wirgman's shop, at the corner of James's Place is mentioned in Boswell's "Life of Johnson", when Dr. Johnson goes into the shop.

Because of the confusion over Gabriel Wirgman & George Wintle's maker's marks, I published a paper on the subject in 2006. To see an updated version of the paper click below:

GW - an article Jan 2006 update 2013

To see a page showing a number of GW marks, click here.

To see some tongs by George Wintle, click here

These tongs are fairly standard bright cut tongs, dated 1790/91.

Click on a picture to see more details