Irish Silversmiths – Thomas Sutton

Thomas Sutton was a famous silversmith from the first part of the 18th century.He worked from 1717 until 1744.

He was apprenticed to Thomas Bolton, one of the most famous Irish silversmiths of all time, who is immortalised in Bolton Street. His brother, William Sutton, was also a silversmith of note, and was active at the same time.

His mark was TS with a crown over it, seen below, taken from a silver mug made in 1728.

Thomas Sutton

Another interesting feature on this mug is a scratch weight. As the fee for assaying depended on the weight of the object, this was often scratched into the base. In this case, this mug weighed seven ounces and fourteen pennyweight. Over a period of hundreds of years, sometimes a piece lose a little bit of weight (through repeated polishing, for example), and can weigh a little bit less than this. However, it should never weigh more!

Scratchweight