The maker's mark of "WC" is a common one of this period. This means that we cannot be certain of the attribution of tongs marked "WC".

William Cattell registered a mark as a small-worker in 1771 and is known to have been working for at least 2 years. There is no real evidence that he made sugar tongs and his apprenticeship gives no clues. The maker's mark for these tongs is clearly different to that of William Chatterton and for that reason I have assumed the tongs to have been made by a different maker.

It should be emphasised that there is no certainty at all over this attribution.

Click here to see tongs by William Chatterton