Joseph Pearson was one of the moore well known of the Dumfries makers of this period. He was working between 1794 and 1817. It is believed that he only produced silver items from 1810 when he employed a silversmith called Gray. It is also believed that the stylised anchor may only have been used after David Gray had split with Joseph Pearson, (many thanks to Richard Turner for this information). These tongs are fairly standard Scottish fiddle pattern and are marked with the makers mark, stylised anchor and wheatsheaf. They are probably dated some time between 1810 and 1817.