Russian Silver
Martin McIlory, Head of the Silver Department, writes about the more common pieces
of Russian silver that pass through the major provincial auction houses such as
Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood.
A late 18th century Russian silver casket of melon form, raised on floral decorated
feet, made in St Petersburg in 1785.
Most items of
Russian silver
that come through our
Silver
department date from the late 18th century up until the Communist Revolution in
1917. The majority of the pieces are normally late 19th and early 20th century.
Prior to the revolution, the vast majority of Russians were living in serfdom. Despite
this, Russia was not a backward country. It was well integrated with the rest of
continental Europe, Asia and the Far East. This brought to the silversmiths a wealth
of objects, designs and techniques for inspiration for their craft.
Moscow and St Petersburg attracted artists and artisans from France, Germany and
many of the Scandinavian countries, especially Finland. Not only that, but Russian
silver was exhibited at all the great exhibitions held in the European capitals
as well as in America. It is not until the Communist Revolution in 1917 that the
heyday of Russian silver came to an abrupt end.
Russian silver itself, generally speaking, is not as pure as English silver. Sterling
silver is 925 parts per 1000, whereas Russian silver is only 875 parts per 1000,
items to this standard are hallmarked with the number 84. Items that met the English
standard and were probably meant for export to this country are stamped with the
number 91. Other marks will include the town of origin, the assay master's mark
who tested the piece for purity and the maker's mark. Prior to 1899, the assay master
would also include the date he tested the piece.
A 19th century Russian silver and niello decorated snuff box, decorated in a simpler
geometric pattern.
Designs in Russian silver broadly reflected the decorative tastes of the rest of
Europe, from Gothic through to the naturalistic style of articles decorated with
flowerheads and foliage. Some items remained in a more traditional style and such
items included a shoe shaped drinking vessel called a Kovsh and, of
course, eggs which could be either highly decorated with enamels or just plain silver.
These were given by wealthier families at Easter, which is a major celebration in
the Russian Orthodox Church.
Another example of a niello decorated snuff box this time with the lid decorated
with a view of Moscow dating from 1847.
Keeping away from
Faberge
and highly ornamental enamel objects, a simpler and more common form of enamelling
is Niello work. Niello designs can range from simple geometric patterns
to views of major Russian cities such as St Petersburg or Moscow). Another
typically traditional design is scenes depicting Russian sleighs, known as troikas.
These Niello decorated boxes are probably the most common items to pass through
the
auction rooms.
Their quality can vary from fairly plain and boring to little masterpieces of the
enameller's art.
A late 19th century Russian Icon of The Madonna and Child the image contained within
a silver oklad.
Another area that shows off the silversmith's art is in the decoration of icons.
Icons were images of Christ, the Virgin Mary or Saints and were kept in most houses
to ward off the evil works of the devil. They were normally oil paintings on wooden
boards and sometimes had a silver frame that enclosed the painted image. Such frames
are called an oklad and are often engraved with either sunburst or a dove
representing the Holy Spirit. The oklad would be fully hallmarked and there were
certain companies who specialised in icon decoration.
A pair of late 18th century Russian silver gilt and niello decorated vodka beakers
(charka) dating from 1789.
Other items that have passed through our salerooms in the past four years include
a pair of silver and gilt decorated Vodka tumblers or Charka, which dated
from the late 18th century. Charka can vary from small (20ml) to large (120ml).
The use of gilding accentuating the decoration. These particular Russian silver
Charka realised £3,700 at auction.
A Russian silver cigarette case of naturalistic form, with gold and gem set clasp
dates from the early 1900s.
Another popular item of Russian silver that appears regularly are cigarette cases
and the example shown above is a naturalistic design of plain and simple form
using gold to complement the silver and inset with a gemstone. Most of these cases
date from the Art Nouveau period but are far more restrained than their
continental counterparts. The Art Nouveau movement, whilst strong in central and
Western Europe, had no great influence on the Russian silversmiths.
The reasons that Russian silver has become so popular over the past eight years
are complex. Greater knowledge of the silversmiths and silver retailers has become
more easily obtainable. Up until the fall of the Communist regime in Russia and
Eastern Europe, few items of silver were available on the English market, but there
has been a rise in the number of wealthy Russian collectors who are willing to repatriate
Russian silver back to the Motherland. Dogged by political turmoil, civil war and
world war, Russian silver is once again taking up an important place in world markets.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Fine Silver
- Russian Silver
- Troikas
- Charka
- Oklad
- Russian Orthodox Icons
- Cigarette Cases
- Snuff Boxes
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About the Author
 | Martin McIlroy Collectables and Toys Silver Works of Art and ClocksMartin McIlroy is the Head of the Works of Art and Silver Departments at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood.
Martin McIlroy was educated at Exeter School in Devon and took a gap year before continuing his education at Teacher Training College. He subsequently worked at The Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) in Exeter, cataloguing reserve collections before spending seven years working for a local auction room gaining further experience.
He joined the internationally renowned auction house Philips in 1982, where he catalogued sales in Exeter, Cornwall and London for sixteen years. He then joined Bearne's in 2000 to catalogue silver and works of art and subsequently became Head of these departments.
His favourite subject is bronze sculpture, church silver, toys and collectables.
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Russian Silver was written on Friday, 10th May 2013.