These are a beautiful pair of early tongs. They are highly unusual in that they are not cast but are pierced. They are concave and have then been pierced and engraved. They have deep, shaped acorn bowls and lovely Adam style engraved flowers to the shoulders and the base of the arms. The maker's mark is also unusual. Most Thomas Tookey maker's marks are script in form. This is a simple two capital letters with a pellet between.

These tongs are very different to other Thomas Tookey work, and especially with the maker's mark being so different, we cannot be sure they are actually by Thomas Tookey although the quality of the work is exceptional.  I have dated them at c1775.

In fact the tongs have the feel of early Sheffield work, but there were no Sheffield makers "TT" of that period.