Fast forward a few years, and I found a set of eight four-tined dognose forks for sale, all but two of them with the date letter for 1705, two bearing the maker's mark for Pierre Harache, four with that of Benjamin Watts, and two which I believe bear Continental marks. Later matching crests were engraved on all of the forks. On one of the Harache forks, I could see remnants of the thick sausage-like torse that seemed to match that on my fork, and the dognose terminals on the Harache forks were shaped like mine.
When I received the forks, it was pretty obvious that the two Harache forks from the set of eight were made at the same time as the one I already had. Below are the three Harache forks:
Below is a photograph of one of the forks bearing Benjamin Watts' mark.
The forks with what I believe to be Continental marks:
And, finally, a shot of the set of eight forks:
In the photograph above of the eight forks, it's easy to see the difference in terminal shape between the first and third forks from the left (the Harache forks) and the other forks. The Watts forks' terminals more closely resemble the terminals on the Continental forks, which appear as the last pair of forks on the right in the photo above. It's a shame about the later crests. I wonder if the Watts and Harache forks were made for the same customer in 1705? Did the Harache and Watts workshops have a working relationship?
