Stock No. 2430	George III silver sugar nips
	Very attractive pair of George III sterling silver sugar nips in traditional style. The rim round the central pin has been engraved on one side with the date 1783, as well as with two initials, G and T on either side of the pin and a very delicate leafy branch decoration. There are two hallmarks punched on the central side of the outside rim of both finger rings. The lion passant, showing the silver standard and the makers' mark. This mark was too wide for the thin rim on which it was punched and has slipped off the edge. However, by looking at both the marks, the makers' mark is discernible.
	Maker :- William and John Deane

Condition :-Good. The hallmarks are very clear but the makers' mark was too wide for the handles where it was struck and so can only be seen partially. There is a small plug in the silver on one side of one of the arms of the nips but it was put there while the nips were being made.
Hallmarked :- London 1764
Size :- 4.9 inches long
Weight :- 0.9 ozt (28 g)
Sugar nips were made before sugar tongs and are always a very attractive shape. The earliest sugar nips recorded in England date from about 1685 and are in the shape of fire tongs with straight arms. Sugar tongs first appeared in the late 1760s and finally supplanted sugar nips around 1775. To-day, sugar nips would make a very decorative vehicle for picking up ice cubes or lemon slices, or anything else you fancy.

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