John Love and Co. registered a mark on May 1^st 1783 and John Lindley & Co. registered a mark on January 28^th 1788.  These two marks are very easy to confuse.  In theory the difference is that Lindley’s mark has a pellet between the “I” and the “L” whilst Love’s does not.  Lindley’s punch also has cut corners whilst Love’s does not.  This pair of tongs makes that differentiation a little difficult as the tongs are clearly dated 1785, (with the incuse duty mark), but the maker’s mark has a pellet between the “I” and the ”L”.  Clearly John Love & Co. must have been using a mark with a pellet, even though it was not registered.  This problem is not unusual with Georgian sugar tongs makers, which often makes it difficult to attribute an item.