This is a very unusual pair of tongs. They have standard bright cut engraving but have been pierced with a series of half moon shapes that get gradually smaller. This type of work is seen from Sheffield makers, but not from anywhere else. These tongs also have some other very special features. They have a delightful monogram of "I Scruton" it is quite unusual for a full name to be engraved as a monogram. They are also very, very special in that are marked with the double duty mark. The double duty mark was used in Sheffield when the duty was increased in 1797. London instructed the provincial assay offices to use a double strike of the duty mark while waiting for London to engrave new duty marks punches to be sent out to the provincial assay offices.

Click here to see more tongs by Thomas Law

see Henry Tudor & Thomas Leader for another pair of pierced tongs