Postby Hephaistos » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:34 pm
Back a little to basics. What have been done is a try to link the occurrence, and frequent occurrence, of the silversmith EP in St P in combination with, on one hand the peculiar stamp S.P.BURG, and on the other Joseph Kopf. EP is a mass producer of tableware, including serving sets, and S.P. BURG a retailer in St P. Kopf acting in the same role in Tallinn but far earlier, from 1908 having sold EP stuff in Estonia, but also, S.P.BURG was strong present there. EP, then in two ways linked to Estonian customers, had the chasing forms, in St P, to complete missing parts an Estonian table service. Obviously Kopf was in this trade also earlier, he started already 1891, when he still haven’t received his guild master, and maintained this business up to 1918.
From that, and other phenomena, such as S.P.BURG also had other suppliers (AK) I have concluded that Kopf - who also had other suppliers from St P, both were mainly retailors, not active silversmiths, and in the Kopf case, this was his breadwinning from 1891 to 1918, 37 years. This conclusion has strong support in the overall analysis of silver-smithing manufacturing, market situation and late mechanization of Estonian silver-smithing by Alur Reinans 2010. If this blows away a little of the glory of Kopf, in his case the halo of his name, is for others to judge, in any case, in this respect he is to be reassessed.
The showcases Zolotnik just presented here, are strengthening, rather than weakening, the reasons for a reassessment. The stuff has disputable artistic value, mostly souvenirs, and have nothing of his later more simplistic and functionalistic (as well as various retro-styles) designs he produced later, after setting up his factory 1928.
He is a little of a mystery, making absolutely masterpieces, but few in his early carrier, pieces 1897-1918, if stamped, all in St P. In the 20-ies mediocre (only 3 items reaching quality of to be exhibited 2004, of which one is a remake) up to his break-through as an artist 1928-40, which was, as he died already 1930, mainly not his break-through, but the company’s and his workmasters. Absolutely not making a caricature of him - but he showed early genuine silversmithing artistry, which he not maintained but used as access to the St P suppliers for penetrating the underdeveloped Estonian market. And, after the WW I, a local market adapter with few highlights, a business developer in creating the first modern silver facility in Estonia recruiting the best of craftsmanship. If it is more flattering, one can baptist him to Estonia’s Carl Fabergé, both making journeymans trip and Grand Tour abroad, back home organizing local demand and a network of suppliers, scaling up the business and mechanization and export: - as in any industry, but in this case in precious metal and jewelry.
After this rugby game remains now a closer look to his Russian suppliers, and of them, the most frequent EP. It is good reasons to believe that the EP who provided the goblet (Qrt.S, not a chalice, not only church silver), which Kopf dismantled 1903 and made to the standing cup with dear foot was Jegor Pankratchev. To give evidence to that, we take advantage of another source, Anu Mänd´s catalogue of the permanent silver exhibition in Niguliste church in Tallinn, published 2002. Fortunately two stamps of EP from the standing cup is there, one blurry but one sharp, the later absolutely similar to Ivanov’s photo # 3180, with a view also of the double assay stamp of St P 1882-99. But does this verify that it is the same EP (Pankratchev) that delivers 1908, as we assumed from the very start examining the spoons, just because we know that Pancratchev delivered to Kopf earlier?
Let us have a look at all the EP:s around. They are very alike, same shape in the Kopf case as the S.P.BURG, and exactly as Postnikova # 1276, the rectangle almost an oval, and she says Jegor Pancratchev. But now you see what I see, a red herring. Postnikova lead us to Pancratchev, and the Kopf masterpiece from 1903 also, but a closer examination do show a small difference between the stamps, the “older” is more rectangular, the Postnikova and “later EP” has more rounded corners. We have now got two EP:s and is it probable that it is the same possessor, but by time slightly different shape of his stamp? Postnikova is wrong in determine her EP (she has only one in St P) to be active 1898-1908, which is wrong for Pancrathev, he was active 1874-1908. But she is almost right when it comes to the more “oval”, the oval EP stamped both before 1908 and after 1908 (Yakov Lyaponov and alfa respectively).
That’s where we are. From a craftsmanship point of view, the conservatism of the guild, and the mental and special immobility of silversmiths, it is unlikely so that a silversmith of corpus items do shift to mass production; they rather starved (which there is a lot of examples of). On the other hand, under influence of business tycoons such as Kopf and S.P.BURG, and growing capitalism and industrialism in St P, and over a time span of more than 30 years, it might be so that the Pankratchev workshop expanded to something else? Of that, we so far know little.
The Kopf early purchases in St P are in one way illuminating his approach. He was a collector, for future use. He assembled silver for later remake of his own design. A goblet with lid from IT (in Cyrillic) in St P, another from Germany, remade by Kopf and stamped in St P, he made a goblet with lid 1921, where the foot is from the (unnamed but well-known) master P.L stamped by Lyaponov in St P before 1903, with a cuppa from AH? (Cyrillic) assay stamped in Moscow, some 20 years after the originals were made. Who talked of eclecticism? He stored, for later use, and when a costumer appeared demanding some prestige gift, he proposed a design from his shelf and, - made remakes, of Kopf high quality craftsmanship, in that sense close to the stars, if not in taste.
No matter, I like him. Sometimes you have to kill your darling.
(more church related objects)
(nothing is known about her output)
(flatware for the gastronomy)
