A Queen Anne silver Taperstick.

A Queen Anne Britannia standard silver Taperstick, London, 1708: the maker’s mark is poorly struck but discernibly that of John Barnard. Engraved underneath with contemporary pricked initials ‘MC’ above ‘SG’.
A number of tapersticks and pairs of candlesticks of this period bear the mark of John Barnard. Barnard seems to have changed his mark, which is often poorly struck, about 1710, replacing the two-leaved device at the bottom of his heart-shaped punch [which can be identified on the maker’s mark struck on this taperstick] with a simple pellet. He continued to use a heart-shaped outline for his punch.