The maker’s mark “IL” is difficult to attribute for certain. We know that John Lias worked from 1791, registering marks on his own up to 1818 when he then registered his first mark with his son Henry. John Lambe worked up to about 1793 so for the purposes of attributing tongs, I have assumed any work after 1793 is John Lias’s work. This is not a very perfect way of attributing work, but probably the best we can do as the “IL” marks are all very similar. John Lias registered his first mark on 8^th November 1791 as a buckle-maker. He had a brief partnership with Denis Charie between 29^th September 1792 and 3^rd July 1794, then going on to register more marks on his own as a plate-worker and then a spoon-maker. His first mark with his son Henry was registered on 14^th March 1818.

Click here to see tongs by John & Henry Lias

Click here to see tongs by John, Henry & Charles Lias