Russian Marks Updated

[admin]

Dear Members,

I'm happy to announce that the Russian Hallmarks section of 925-1000.com has undergone major renovation and the new version is now available online. (Note: If you have visited any of the Russian pages in the last months, you may have to refresh/reload the pages to view the newer versions.)

The Russian City and Town marks section has been expanded from its original 19 listings to 32 entries and shows many more mark examples for comparison.

An explanation of some of the assay stamp variations can now be found on the Assay marks page.

As to the Makers' Marks and Assay Master pages; it had long bothered me that the names appeared in a hodgepodge of different systems of Cyrillic to Latin transliteration, now, we finally have some consistency. Each and every name has been freshly transliterated from Cyrillic to Latin using a single system, the BG/PCGN developed in 1947. This system was originally developed for maps and geographic place names and was chosen for use here due to its simplicity and familiarity to English speakers. Names now appear in Latin form, as well as the original Cyrillic. I am sure that I must have made some Cyrillic spelling errors, but I am relying on our members to point them out for rapid correction.

Over the next weeks and months I will be adding more makers and assayers marks from a backlog I have collected. Should any members (or non-members) have examples of marks from any of the towns and cities not listed, their donation would be greatly appreciated.

Lastly, many thanks to the forum members whose help has proved invaluable to this ongoing project.

I will keep this an open topic and invite your suggestions.

Regards, Tom

[Ubaranda]

Very useful and interesting work!
But I would like to correct one inaccuracy. This inaccuracy goes from book to book. The mark "ИЕЗ", especially on kiddush cups and other items of Judaica doesn't belong to Igor Zaviyanov. This is the mark of well-known maker Israel Eseevich Zakhoder (Израиль Есеевич Заходер). Israel Zakhoder founded his business in 1851 in Berdichev, then until 1892 he worked in Moscow, and later to 1907 - in Kiev. After the death of a jeweler in 1907 found products with the mark "Heirs of I.E.Zahoder" "Наследники ИЕЗ", which indicates the success of this workshop for a long period. Information about Israel Zakhoder found in many Russian sources, for example here: : http://antikvariat74.ru/articles/articles_55.html/

Examples of marks of Zakhoder:

Moscow marks until 1892



Kiev mark 1892-1898


Kiev mark 1899-1907


Kiev mark "Heirs of I.E.Zahoder" after 1908


Best regards. Alex.

[Qrt.S]

Hmmmm, an interesting statement but it makes me wonder a bit. If this Zakhoder is so "well known", why is he not found in any reliable sources? Something written on an auction house's site is hardly a reliable source. They write whatever nonsense too often... You write "...mentioned in many Russian sources...". Kindly refer to some another source but not to an auction house's site, thank you.

[Ubaranda]

I wrote "well-known" in sense that we know many items with mark "ИЕЗ" . I think almost each collector of kiddush cups has one or more items with this mark.
About Israel Zakhoder you can read here. It's a science research but not a site of auction house:

Ювелирное искусство и материальная культура. Тезисы докладов участников одиннадцатого коллоквиума (8-13 апреля 2002 г.). Тираж 300 экз. СПб.: Государственный эрмитаж. 2002г. 182 с. Обложка. Стандартный формат. Цена: 1500 руб.
Содержание: (коллектив авторов). Фабрика серебряных изделий Израиля Заходера. История и атрибуция двух фрагментов царского скипетра...


Information about Israel Zakhoder else was appeared at the site of National historical museum of Ukraine a short time ago:
http://miku.org.ua/ru/yvelirnoe_iskusst ... raina.html

Best regards.

[admin]

Alex,

Many thanks for submitting this information and the photos.

As far as I know, the information that provided the Zaviyanov attribution was purely anecdotal and the links that you have provided give a stronger basis for an attribution. I will be soon edit the page and note that the mark is Zakhoder's, but had previously been attributed to Zaviyanov.

In addition to your sources, I found one other:
Антиквар: журнал об антиквариате, искусстве и коллекционировании / ред. А. Шерман. - Киев, 2012. - № 12 (69)
{Antiquary: the journal of antiques, art and collectibles / ed. A. Sherman. - Kyiv, 2012. - № 12 (69)}

includes one article entitled:
Мальцева О. Клеймо, хранящее загадку. Паровая фабрика разных серебряных изделий И.Е. Заходера в г. Бердичеве.
{A. Maltsev, Stamp that holds the puzzle. Steam factory various silverware IE Zakhoder in Berdichev}

I would consider it a kindness if you would provide a more sensible translation for this title than google has given.

Best, Tom

[Ubaranda]

Hi Tom!

Thank you for your support. I hope we are on the right way.
I think it's better to translate title of the article as: O.Maltseva, Mark that holds the secret. I.E.Zakhoder's steam factory of various silverware in Berdichev.
("Steam factory" in sense "factory, equipped with steam engines").

Best regards, Alex.