A Rare Pair of George III Silver Teaspoons, by William Darby, Sheffield, 1785, Stamped 'Patent', each Old English pattern, engraved with initials 'H' over I*N'; Together With: an Irish silver dessert-spoon, Dublin, 1825; a pair of sugar-tongs, maker's mark TG, further with '875' mark and lion passant and a further pair of sugar-tongs, Thomas Bradbury and Sons Ltd., London, 1918, Britannia standard, 3oz 2dwt (5)

While the machine production of silver flatware became common in the 19th century it was William Darby of Sheffield who was among the earliest silversmiths to seek a method for the machine making of spoons. His method was patented in 1785, describing the process as '... then stamped with a hammer, stamp, screw press, or any engine of sufficient force, between two steel dyes, one or both of the dyes having the exact form of the spoon or other article intended.' (as quoted by I. Pickford, Silver Flatware English, Irisn and Scottish 1660-1980, Woodbridge, 1995, pp. 20-21).