Near Pair of Queen Anne Britannia Silver Trencher Salts

hallmarked London, one 1707-1708, by Matthew West (1664-after 1735; free 1689), the other 1709-1710, probably Nathaniel Lock (ca. 1666-1749; free 1687), each domed circular form, engraved with a crest "a leopard passant gardant, charged on the neck with a label", and monogrammed "I*G".
h. 1-1/4" and 1-3/8", dia. 2-5/8"; 3.54 total t. oz.

Literature: Arthur G. Grimwade, London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837: Their Marks and Lives, Third Edition (London: Faber & Faber, 1990), pp. 584 & 696-697.

Notes: Matthew West's career as a silversmith was overshadowed by his lottery "intermediation" scheme: selling percentage shares in tickets for the expensive Dutch and German lotteries at inflated prices. He was subpoenaed by the Court of Exchequer in November 1712 for suspicion of fraud, but the scheme did not technically violate the laws against private lotteries and usury. He was responsible for both a brief boon in lottery intermediation and its subsequent suppression. The date of his death is not known, but he was still advertising his lottery scheme in 1722, and was still listed as a silversmith in 1735 (one year before a legal lottery was conducted in England to raise funds for Westminster Bridge.)

**West: Showing the expected patina of age, but in generally good condition, with no splits, dents or repairs noted. Marks worn at the edges but legible._x000B__x000B_Lock: Repair to a split around the bowl perimeter, with a similar repair to a thinned area about 1" long, reinforced on the underside with a thin silver sheet. Nice patina. Hallmarks worn on the edges but legible (except for the maker's mark as noted).