Sugar tongs from Chester are extremely rare.

Chester was operating as a provincial Assay office, (unofficially) up until 25^th March 1697 when an Act of Parliament closed the provincial Assay offices. The Act of 1701 then allowed Chester to re-open again. The opening of the Birmingham and Sheffield Assay offices 1773 will have had an impact on the business of Assaying at Chester, and may explain why there are so few sugar tongs with Chester hallmarks. We know that at the other Assay offices date letters were not introduced on small items such as sugar tongs until quite late, (1791 for London and later for other Assay offices). It is also likely that the Leopard’s head and city arms were not punched on small items of silver. The king’s head duty mark was not introduced until 1^st December 1784 so any work prior to that will have only the Lion Passant and maker’s mark. This means it is likely to be very difficult to attribute a particular piece of work to Chester, as the Lion Passant looks very similar to the Sheffield Lion. The Chester Lion Passant has different corners cut to represent different periods.