www.925-1000.com

Hello all,
my first post, so be gentle with me. ;-)

I have this fine Russian silver cream jug (Height approx 7 cms).
Assayed in St Petersburg by Aleksandr Timofeyevich Shevyakov in 1896 (Found his mark on the “Russian hallmarks” page of this forum).
Bottom rim, handle and spout are all marked with tiny St Petersburg coat of arms-mark.
Inscribed on bottom rim with “25 VIII 1923 H.T.”
And with a later Soviet mark (applied so it could be sold on the open market?).

But who is the maker “BK”?

I found this mark pictured a few times on this forum, but as far as I could see never with a name attached to it (In this thread e.g, http://925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=44212).But I could be wrong ofcourse!

Thanks in advance for your help
JW

The creamjug:

and the marks underneath:

Hi and welcome to the forum -

the maker is Kangin, Wasili I. 1895-1908. He was very busy - many different objects from him are known.
The second mark is not a Soviet mark, but a Latvian mark in use 1920-39. What is funny - this mark is for local production. Maybe an error from the assay office?
source: PL p 181 # 1244-1246

Regards
Goldstein

Oh, that's quick! Many thanks for the info, Goldstein. Much appreciated!
The Latvian mark makes it even more interesting. I wonder what stories this little jug could tell if it could speak!

JW

Hi JWK -
a little background for the Latvian mark:
the cream jug was made in St. Petersburg (maybe bought there and brought back to Latvia - what was quite normal at that time - or later brought to Latvia by Revolution refugees - pure speculation!). After "liberation" from the hated Russian rule through the Revolution and owning now an own independent country again - the proud Latvians often rehallmarked their Russian silver with their own marks. Something you often see in the 3 Baltic states.

Regards
Goldstein

Thanks for the info!

Hi,
Many times repeated and discussed question; marks on every part prior of assembling the item.
The cream jug is composed of FOUR parts, including hollow handle.
Are more marks expected?
Cheers

The rim, spout and handle each have this tiny mark (Apologies for the bad quality of the picture, but it's the StP eagle):


and at the bottom end of the handle there's also this "B" (about 1 mm across):


Any idea what that "B" (if it ís a "B") is for?

JW

Hi JWK -

The B is the crippelt mark of BK. So everything is 100% according to the rules - everything is 100% authentic!
Nice find - now you have to seek the rest.....
By the way the mark on your object is a very early one - lter marks are more common.




Regards
Goldstein

Thanks, it all makes sense now.
I had noticed that the date was pretty early, as Wasily is only recorded from 1895 to 1908.
If he was capable of producing such quality in his first year as silversmith he must have been pretty good.

As for the rest of the service (Coffee/teapot, sugarbasin): would love to know if they still exist, but I have my doubts.
And why was "1925/VIII 23" such an important date for "HT"? Guess we'll never know.

JW

Was just trying to find possible exceptions from legislation in an obviously authentic item.
Cheers