My Xmas present

[Zolotnik]

Hi all -
Santa Claus was very nice and generous this year....






Enjoy
Zolotnik

[Qrt.S]

Congratulations, not bad, not bad at all. :-)))))

[Zolotnik]

Thank you for your friendly words!
Since days I sit and drool over this cigarette case - it took some months of negotiations, several heart seizures, the plan to rob a bank - but finally I got it.

[Qrt.S]

You are welcome, now take a look at your other thread with the mirror. Mind my saying but the frame is not either bad at all :-))))

[oel]

Hi,
I believe Santa has been naughty I received this image made in 2012, without too many word, just for comparison and feel free to draw own conclusions.


Regards,

Oel.

[Zolotnik]

Hi oel -
but not bad for a fake...

Regards
Zolotnik

[Zolotnik]

Hi -
Without wishing to rebut the charge of a fake, here are some 100% authentic Artel marks. Almost every punch is a little different. All fakes?













and so on...

Regards
Zolotnik

[oel]

Hi Zolotnik,

In general not much is known about the Artels and Postnikova-L for the Artels not of great use. What we can find on the internet is written by you and Qrt.S. I read; the 3rd Artel mark is rare and very few objects known.
http://www.silvercollection.it/dictionaryartelsMO.html

I believe an Artel had more than one punch and after a certain working period had new punches made. Conclusion we might expect some differences in their punch marks.

Looking at your images top down;
The 2nd Artel, the few marks shown for the 2nd Artel have ‘soft’ corners but not clipped corners. To me the hallmarks with 2nd Artel mark look authentic and the marks are not tempered with but...

The 5th Artel is straight from your list and with authentic hallmark (Kokoshnik)

The 9th Artel, the first three marks look not bad and have beauties of Kokoshniks, the 4th image of the 9th Artel mark, I should put on hold and needs a further check.

The 13th Artel mark looks fine to me, the gilding has made it a little unclear, and the 2nd image of the 13th Artel mark is perfect, if I can trust your list.

The 23rd Artel marks are not according your own list but it could be an unregistered mark used by the 23rd Artel because the hallmarks look not bad.

Is Russian silver is getting a bad name?
Russians buying back their heritage. The popularity of Russian silver created a tsunami of fake Russian silver. Already the fakes are getting too good for us to be recognized as such. Today’s willingness of people to buy Russian silver with fake or pseudo marks and for a ridiculous high price at auction is absurd. Tomorrow the expensive but fake Russian 3rd Artel enamelled silver box should be worth no more than the value of the silver or could strong powers prevent this?

Regards,

Oel

[Zolotnik]

Hi oel -
as mentioned before I have some 50 or more objects from the different Artels. All are mostly small items of daily needs - sugar tongs, vodka cups, spoons, matchboxes, napkin rings, kovshi or crystal / silver cups. Here are some examples which all have the same high quality and the avant-garde design so typical for the work of the Artels. The marks differ always a little - but one recognize the Artel´s work/quality/style at once. Though often faked (as all Russian silver) - the overall quality is the main aspekt. Here some example:

















and so on....

Regards
Zolotnik

[oel]

Hi Zolotnik,

Thanks for showing the objects made by the various Russian Artels. To understand Russian silver we have to study Russian silver & hallmark rules. To make a statement we have to study the silver object, recognize the style and quality & feel the weight. The hallmarks and maker’s mark should confirm our suspicions. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world.

Regards,

Oel.