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KOVSH

Creator(s): Maria Semenova (Firm)

Currently in storage


About this object

Maria Semenova was an accomplished enameller known for her innovations with traditional Russian ornaments, such as the "kovsh," or drinking vessel. She took over her father's workshop upon his death in 1896 and sucessfully ran the business until 1904.

The body of the kovsh is ornamented with a series of embossed lobes and the top of the handle is flat. The exterior of the body is decorated with panels of pale lemon yellow and light blue enamel separated by braided wires. On the lobes, the colors alternate about the body with the exception of the panel under the nose, which is a deep burgundy. Large, stylized flowers reminiscent of motifs drawn from Usol'sk enamels are painted on the panels. The flowers bend to the left and right away from the central panel on the side of the kovsh. Shaded scrolls in filigree enamel are set against transparent green enamel on the flat sides of the nose. Areas of deep blue enamel in a waveform set near the nose are ornamented with granulation, small balls of silver gilt soldered to the surface. Granulation is also applied to the pale flower under the nose. The edge of the handle is decorated with a series of small circles filled with opaque turquoise enamel in a pattern reminiscent of seventeenth-century Russian enamels and the underside is smooth. The top of the flat handle is enameled with pale lemon yellow with stylized flowers. A central band of transparent green enamel accented with void cells bisects the space on the diagonal. The interior is silver gilt.

Object name:
KOVSH
Made from:
Silver gilt -- enamel
Made in:
Moscow, Russia
Date made:
1898-1904
Size:
9.5 x 12.7 x 19.7 cm (3 3/4 x 5 x 7 3/4 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
15.94
Class:
ENAMEL
Signature marks:
scratch mark N 73 Underside, at upper left edge near accession number. silver standard mark 875 [Male worker's head facing right with a hammer at his neck] [Greek delta] Stamped on underside of kovsh. The three symbols are in an oval, composite mark. The symbol was used in the USSR between 1927 and 1955 for silver goods. The Soviet marks are adjacent to the earlier marks. See Postnikova-Loseva, 1995, no. 30. Assayer's mark [In a circular frame, head of a male worker wearing a cap facing right with a hammer at his neck and the Greek character delta in the lower left corner] Struck on underside next to earlier marks. The mark was used in the Moscow District (Moskovskoe okruzhnoe probirnoe upravlenie) between 1927 and 1946. See Postnikova-Loseva, 1995, no. 3910. maker's mark [Cyrillic] MS Struck on underside of kovsh at center. The letters are set within an oval frame. Initials are those of the firm owner, Maria Semenova. silver standard; assayer's mark 84 [kokoshnik left] [Cyrillic] IL Struck on underside of kovsh at center. The three marks are contained within an oval. These so-called "doubles" (joined marks) 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). Assayer's mark [In a circular frame, head of a male worker wearing a cap facing right with a hammer at his neck and the Greek character delta in the lower left corner] On underside of handle. The mark was used in the Moscow District (Moskovskoe okruzhnoe probirnoe upravlenie) between 1927 and 1946. See Postnikova-Loseva, 1995, no. 3910. maker's mark [Cyrillic] MS On underside of handle. The letters are set within an oval frame. Initials are those of the firm owner, Maria Semenova.
Credit line:
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973