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ID Needed Please! Russian 84 Silver Tea Cup Holder!
Postby chucktheaggie » Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:31 pm
Hello,
I have this, what I believe to be, a Russian Silver (84) teacup holder. Here are some images- any help identifying the Holder (admin edit read our forum rules)would be appreciated! Posting Requirements
Any information would be helpful, Thank You!!!
- Robert
Your tea glass holder or "podstakannik" in Russian is made by master Sergey Frolov, active 1899-1912 in Moscow. It is assayed by Ivan Lebedkin 1898-1914.
The engraved text says, freely translated : " Remembrance/memory to our beloved son Mitja (abbreviation of the forename Dimitry) Gurvitchov from your parents"
OK, so be it but you are facing another problem now. You see the glass is missing (as it usually is because the original one has been broken). To find one suitable is a long haul. The Russian glass standard is different. You need to find a glass with the diameter of ~65mm.
FYI
In old imperial Russia only men drank from glasses like this, women drank from tea cups. With the tea they used (rasp-)berry jam or honey sometimes also sugar with a thin slice of lemon. The hot water they got from the samovar.
Marking all detachable parts was legislated (not only in Russia) to fight unscrupulous silversmiths. Namely, duty has been paid as a tax on silverware at the time of assay, the amount due related to the weight of the article. In this particular case, if marked only at the base, an unscrupulous silversmith could have returned to his workshop, removed the base and inserted it into a new, much heavier article. Compare with ``Duty dodgers`` in UK and hallmarking gold in France (e.g. several repeated marks on bracelets clasp depending on weight). I have noticed this practice of multiple marking of links on Austria - Hungary long gold chains (e.g. tax paid for 30 cm weight and 30 cm added to sell much heavier chain).
In short,one of the most difficult fakes to disclose because of genuine hallmarks on faked objects.
