Confusing Silver Marks

I have this fork which has maker's marks from two different silversmiths. I am confused as to why this is.

The fork was engraved at a later date, so could one mark be for the maker of the fork, and the other for the engraver? Why would they have two different companies on one fork?

A maker's mark is "Mitchell & Tyler" of Richmond, VA. They partnered between 1845-1866.

The other marker's mark is "G&S" in an oval above "1 / 52 / 8" in a diamond. The G&S is for William Gale & Son. who existed between 1853-1859.

 

These marks are not "engraved." All of them were present in the cast.

FYI there is no "hallmark" for the vast majority of silver items made in the US. There cannot be hallmarks when there is no "hall" or assayer to do the marking. These are maker's marks. The Gale firm was a maker not an assayer.

 

I suspect that this dual marking may have resulted from the Mitchell firm's use of the Gale process for producing patterned flatware (which William Gale patented.) But that is just my guess at this point.

 

Another possibility is that the design on the other side of the fork was "owned" by Gale who allowed use by Mitchell as long as the Gale marks were on the flatware. Would you be so kind as to post a picture of the design?

 

Thank you for the education! I'm new to the world of silver so I wasn't sure exactly what a hallmark or maker's mark really was.

And by "engraved", I meant that a separate engraving with initials was engraved into the underside of the handle. I wasn't sure if one maker's mark was added to signify who engraved those initials. That seems not to be the case though!

 

Here it is! I found this pattern to be Mayflower by William Gale & Son.

 

One could be the maker and one the retailer

I’ve had Tiffany sterling pieces with a maker’s mark and the Tiffany signature (Tiffany being the retailer)

 

Common in 19th century US for items to be marked with retailer rather than maker

Perhaps in this case both