Ladyman. John Ladyman.

I was an incredibly lucky girl to buy these beauties:

Front and back of pair of tablespoons by John Ladyman, London, 1712; close-up of hallmarks

They weigh a gorgeous 160 grams and are quite honestly the most beautiful spoons I have come across.  The bowls are shaped slightly differently than those of my other spoons, a bit shorter and rounder.  They are nice and thick throughout and absolutely wonderful in the hand.  As the hallmarks show, the spoons were made by John Ladyman in London in 1712.  Although I didn't know it at the time, these spoons were a portent of things to come.  The next spoons I purchased were two teaspoons, both by Mr. Ladyman.  I also bought six dessert spoons by him.

From left to right: front and back of teaspoon, Britannia standard, no date letter; dessert spoon, 1702; teaspoon, Britannia standard, no date letter, all by John Ladyman; close-up of hallmarks

In addition to drawing me to other spoons by John Ladyman, that first pair of spoons seemed to draw me to other spoons with a maker's mark of LA, such as two spoons by George Lambe and one by his wife, Jane.

From left to right: front and back of tablespoon, London, 1716, George Lambe; tablespoon, London, 1724, Jane Lambe; tablespoon, London, 1718, George Lambe; close-up of hallmarks

Are there certain maker's marks that you collect?  Was that a conscious decision, or did it happen by accident?