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KOVSH, ONE OF TEN

Creator(s): Maria Semenova (Firm)

Currently in storage


About this object

This set of miniature kovshi was intended to be used as saltcellars. The smooth, bulging bodies are gilded a deep yellow in the interior; the color of the silver gilt on the exterior is modulated by the stippled ground. The raised ornament, rendered in shaded enamels, include twisting floriated scrolls in pale tones of green, pink, and cream. Slight hints of orange and brown - more traditional shades in the seventeenth century - appear in the center of some of the flowers. Around the borders are a series of dots in deep turquoise enamel. The flat tops of the handles are decorated with a scrolling ornament in shaded enamels and the end comes to a high crest.

Object name:
KOVSH, ONE OF TEN
Made from:
Silver gilt -- enamel
Made in:
Moscow, Russia
Date made:
1898-1908
Size:
3.2 × 4.1 × 7 cm (1 1/4 × 1 5/8 × 2 3/4 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
15.127.7
Class:
ENAMEL
Signature marks:
silver standard; assayer's mark 84 [Kokoshnik left] [Cyrillic initials] IL Stamped on underside of bowl in center. The three marks are contained within an oval. These so-called "doubles" (joined marks on a single poinçon) were introduced in the Assay Charter of 1882. This particular version (with kokoshnik and assayer's initials) was introduced in late 1898. The initials are those of Moscow assayer Ivan Sergeevich Lebedkin (active late 1898-1914). maker's mark [Cyrillic initials] MS Stamped on underside in center. In a circular border. This mark does not appear in Postnikova-Loseva.
Credit line:
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973