Овчинниковъ ( Ovchinnikov) or.....

[oel]

Dedication reads; to N. A. Iljin (Н. А. Ильинъ) May 4th, 1891-1898.





A friend of mine asks me to look into this spoon and apologies for the quality of the images.
I believe the Russian (hall) marks to be authentic and the assayer to be; Anatoly Apollonovich Artsybashev, Moscow 1888-1898. I have some doubt about the maker’s mark. Is it the maker's mark of Овчинниковъ ( Ovchinnikov) or could it have been added later and/or punched over the original maker's mark/erased? I would love to hear your opinion, also about the engraved monogram of Tsar Alexander III. Has it been applied over an older monogram?
Could it be another pimped spoon?

Reference monogram of Tsar Alexander III


Thanks,
Peter

[Goldstein]

Hi -
for the correct crown see: http://925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=44178
It is a Prince's crown. Monogram and maker are dubious/fake. This kind of Ovtschinnikov mark is wellknown! In the houshold of an Earl (Tsar) it was not usual to engrave date and name of the person who bought the spoon.. ......More common in the Baltic states - they also had a lot of different Nobles with many connections to nearby Russia (St. Petersburg). Notice the different wear of the engravings and the stamp - front/back.
Typical Baltic spoons



Goldstein

[oel]

Hi Goldstein,

Thank you very much. Do you consider the Moscow city and assayer's mark to be dubious?

Some interesting information about Ovchinnikov family enterprise:
http://www.rusartnet.com/biographies/ru ... vchinnikov

Best,

Peter

[Goldstein]

Hi -
just to claryfy: the firm of Ovtschinnilov was not a simple spoonmaker selling inexpensive silver spoons. The firm was one of the most important in Russia, was a Court Supplier and won many national and international awards for their work - mostly enamel in all forms and styles. Often his spoons have a higher silver content 88 or 91 zolotniki ! It is absolute top quality. I show some spoons from my collection to make the difference to the "spoon" shown by the OP visible. It is a simple original Russian/Baltic silver spoon - "upgraded" to something more valuable by adding clumsy and wrong marks to cheat the unknowing. A real Frankenspoon! (There is always a threshold - the better the replica the more costly it is to make, and counterfeiting is all about minimizing cost and maximizing profit.)!

Compare the shown spoons and form your own opinion:




Goldstein

[oel]

Goldstein, I thank you very much!


Best,

Peter