These are a pair of cast tongs. They are a lovely pattern with unusual shaped shell bowls and lovely clear maker's mark. Unfortunately they have three repairs. The repairs are of excellent quality and difficult to detect from the outside. The repairs are very clear from the inside, a plate repair on each arm, where the arms have been broken and repaired by inserting a plate underneath. They have also had one arm re-soldered back onto the bow. again the repair is hard to see, but is nevertheless there. These tongs are a good example of how difficult it can be to detect repairs.