Russian silver spill holder - Abrosimov?

[SilverK]

Hi, I have what I think is a Russian spill holder and I'm trying to confirm the marks. Based on the Russian silversmiths list on this forum, I think the maker is probably Pyotr Abrosimov, Moscow 1860-1908. However, the other mark defeats me. I would have expected a purity mark of 84 Zolotnics or a Moscow city mark, but it really doesn't look like either to me. I wonder if anyone can advise, please. Apologies for the poor image of the marks - in real life the strange mark is no clearer!

[Qrt.S]

Please clean the marks and then take a good magnifying glass and look at the oval mark on the right. That contains the marks you are looking for. It is the kokoshnik mark (hallmark) for 1899-1908 and contains three elements. Unfortunately the hallmark is badly punched. Anyway, from the left you can see the fineness mark "84" the next mark is a woman's head looking left (1899-1908) and behind its neck you barely can see the initials for the assayer. They seem to be ИЛ (Latin IL) representing Ivan Lebedkin in Moscow 1898-1914.

[SilverK]

Hi Qrt.S,

Well, it worked! I cleaned it up and it changed for me from being completely indecipherable to being almost but not quite completely indecipherable! However, with the info you gave me, a loupe, some squinting and an acute angle I could finally see the three different elements - just...

I really don't know how you managed to see that, but thanks very much indeed.

SilverK.

[Qrt.S]

Good that you saw it. Actually it is not so difficult as you might think. First look at the maker's working period. Then you know what hallmark was used during that time. Knowing that you know what to look for. Elementary dear SilverK.......well a bit experience is needed too :-))))))))