A very rare George III provincial sterling silver sugar basket, Exeter circa 1804 by Richard Jenkins (died 1806)

Of oval navette form upon a spreading oval base with reeded rims, a reeded swing handle. Marked to the foot edge with makers mark RJ, lion passant (cut corners) and duty mark only (clipped cusped duty mark, probably introduced 10^th Oct 1804), the handle unmarked.

Length – 15.7 cm / 6.2 inches

Weight – 169 grams / 5.43 ozt

Richard Jenkins is first mentioned in the Exeter assay books on the 24^th of January 1765, being mayor of Exeter in 1787 and 1800. In 1801 he is listed as being in North Street, Exeter. The combination of lion passant and duty mark is believed to have had a very short period of use around the time of the change in duty on the 10^th of October 1804. In the list of submissions for assay for Jenkins, only one sugar basket is record, see Harrison, M., (2014), Exeter & West Country Silver,. Berforts Group, Hastings,. P.127-8.