The Zeiglers were an important family of silver-smiths in Edinburgh in the Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. With grateful thanks to the incorporation of Goldsmiths of the city of Edinburgh, we can trace the family as follows:

bullet Alexander I was first mentioned in 1762 and died in 1817 (he was made a Freeman in 1791 but had been working prior to that. He had (at least) 2 sons;
bulletWilliam Zeigler I was the eldest son and apprenticed to Alexander I in 1792;
bulletJohn Zeigler was his second son, also apprenticed in 1792. John Zeigler was joint Assay master at one point in his career;
bulletWilliam Zeigler I had a son, also named Alexander (II) who was apprenticed in 1811;
bulletJohn Zeigler had a son, named William Zeigler (II) who was John Zeigler's apprentice in 1812.

In summary, this means that we have two Alexander Zeiglers, two William Zeiglers and one John Zeigler.

Tongs by Alexander Zeigler are the most often seen of the Zeigler family, although there are also quite a few by John Zeigler. The only real way to determine which made which is from an estimate of the date of the item.

John Zeigler registered his mark in 1798. This is a pair of very plain tongs, marked right underneath the bow. I have dated them as c1800.

Click here to see tongs by Alexander Zeigler

Click here to see tongs by William Zeigler

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