Hall marks on gold & silver plate

shield.
THE LEOPARD'S HEAD. 169
After 1763 the head was made smaller arid placed in a plain
In 1822 the leopard's head was deprived of its crown, and denuded
of its mane and beard a great change from the bold front
presented in the old punches ; and it has ever since looked more like
a half-starved cat than a lion.
Indeed, from the earliest times until i8g6, this mark has been
constantly changed, and each change has been for the worse.
The leopard's head of the last cycle, adopted in 1896, however,
certainly is a great improvement, though the shield may not meet
with universal approbation.
time :
The form of the leopard's head and shield is at the present
II. THE MAKER'S MARK.
This mark was first made compulsory in 1363, although it was
no doubt used before that time. The early workers almost invari-
ably employed a symbol or emblem, such as an animal, fish, crown,
star, or rose. It was ordered to be " a mark of the goldsmith known
by the surveyor." In 1379, "Every goldsmith shall have his own
proper mark upon the work." In 1433, "The mark or sign of the
worker." This mark was frequently a single letter, and frequently
two letters for the Christian or surname of the maker. In 1675, the
Goldsmiths' order enjoins that " the plate workers shall bring their
<strong>marks</strong> to Goldsmiths' <strong>Hall</strong>, and there strike the same in a table kept
in the Assay Office, and likewise enter their names and places of