A George I silver Pap Boat.

A George I silver Pap Boat, London 1721, by William Fleming, engraved with a contemporary crest for Dobell of Folkington and Street in Sussex. The probable owner of this pap boat was William Dobell, who married Mary, daughter of William Finch of Tenterden in 1722. They had two surviving children, both daughters: Barbara, born in 1726, and Mary, born in 1728. William Dobell died in 1752.
The pap boat is faintly engraved underneath with the number ‘250’.
Pap boats dating from the first quarter of the eighteenth-century are quite rare. Although the hallmarks are quite lightly struck, probably before the boat was finished, the boat is in remarkable condition, retaining original hammer and file marks.