KOVSH
Creator(s): Unknown (Silversmith)
On view in: Icon Room
About this object
The handle has an elaborate outline with a ribbed border and ends in the cleft crown in outline. Affixed to the handle is a silver coin of Empress Elizabeth I (Elizaveta Petrovna) and below it is her cipher in relief. The inner side of the handle just above the bowl is a relief decoration with formal flowers against a curtain. At the tip opposite to the handle is the Russian Imperial double headed eagle. On the bottom is an oval medallion centering a relief of the Russian Imperial double headed eagle, with the three crowns, the scepter and globe. On the breast of the eagle is a shield with the cipher of Elizaveta Petrovna. The frame of the medallion is a wreath of oak leaves. Around the outer edge is an inscription in Old Russian in eight parts, each section in an elaborate rococo frame: "By the grace of God, we Elizabeth the First, Empress and Autocrat of All Russia granted this kovsh to the Ataman Mikhail Feodorovich Buadrina of the Yeits Host of Lekhkaia Stanitsa for his loyal service in Moscow, January 1753." The interior, the ornaments and the inscriptions are all gilded. The handle was once broken off and shows an old repair.
- Object name:
- KOVSH
- Made from:
- Silver gilt
- Made in:
- Moscow, Russia
- Date made:
- 1753
- Size:
- 31.8 × 17 cm (12 1/2 × 6 11/16 in.)
Detailed information for this item
- Catalog number:
- 12.63
- Class:
- SILVER
- Signature marks:
- INSCRIPTION "By the grace of God, we Elizabeth the First, Empress and Autocrat of All Russia granted this kovsh to the Ataman Mikhail Feodorovich Buadrina of the Yeits Host of Lekhkaia Stanitsa for his loyal service in Moscow, January 1753."
- Credit line:
- Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973