Antique Early Victorian Pair of Sterling Silver & Whalebone Punch Ladles - London 1838

This is very good pair of sterling silver and whalebone punch ladles from the very earliest part of the Victorian era. Each ladle is fully U.K. hallmarked for London 1838 - the silversmiths mark is a little indistinct to both items but it could be for either William King or William Knight. Each ladle is of fairly typical form for a Victorian or Georgian piece - the bowls are deep and oval in shape and have a simple reeded edge - the upper side of the stem is also reeded to match the bowl (as can be seen in pictures 5 and 7, the undersides of the silver stem are flat). To the outside front edge of each bowl is a contemporary engraved family crest which depicts a lion rampant within a shield - atop the shield is a coronet with a lion emerging from the top - I'm sure that with some research you may be able to trace the crest to a particular family. The handles are made from whalebone, which in typical form of the time has been steamed and shaped into the twisted form you can see - at the end of each whalebone handle is a sterling silver tip. Each ladle carries its full hallmarks to the inside of the bowls but they are also part marked to silver stems as is fairly typical of an item made up of multiple parts (see pictures 4 and 7). Each ladle measures approximately 43cm in length - the width across the bowls measures 8.5cm - the total unpacked weight for both ladles is 125g.