Please Help Identify Maker of 1856 St Petersburg Spoons

[davidross]

Having read through nearly all of the posts in the Russian silver forum, with respect and a little trepidation I am submitting my first post.

In question is a pair of 19 cm long spoons weighing 71 and 74 grams.

From perusal of this excellent site, the hallmarks seem to be of the assayer Edward Brandenburg, 1856, 84 zolotnik standard, and city mark of St. Petersburg. I have been unable to identify the maker CAS (which I think could be Latin or Cyrillic).

While I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of these spoons, I look forward to hearing experts’ opinions about them. If they are authentic, I would be grateful if someone could provide information about this pattern, which seems to be rather unusual given the predominance of the fiddle pattern in 19th century Russia flatware.

Thank you in advance for your comments and for sharing your expertise.

[Qrt.S]

Hello davidross and have no fear whatsoever,

Your spoons are ordinary tablespoons made in 1866. I know this popular neo rococo pattern by the name "Olga" a relatively common pattern from mid 19th century and still to the current day. The name can, however, vary depending on the country.
The maker's mark is not CAS but GAS. They are Latin letters because there is neither an "S" nor a "G" in the Cyrillic alphabet, they are C and Г. Anyway, that is master Gustav Alexander Sohlman, a Finn born in Kangasala in Finland 1.6.1830. He arrived in St Petersburg in 1846 and became journeyman in 1850 in Ernst Fock's workshop. In 1855 he got his master license. His working period was 1855-1883 when he dies 14th of March in St Petersburg. He was married twice 1. Ulrika Eleonora Wessmann in 1855 and 2. Gustava Wilhelmina Blomqvist in 1860.

The assayer is, as you also mentioned, Eduard Fjodorovitsh Brandenburg 1850-1866. However, what I find strange indeed is that people often mention and bold the assayer's name instead of the master i.e. maker when they talk about imperial Russian silver, why so? The assayer's name is less important because he was only an official and had nothing to do with the craftsmanship when making the object. He only controlled that silver fineness was according to the law (as from 1798 minimum fineness 84 zolotnik i.e. 875/1000) and then he punched his official control mark or didn't and in that case destroyed the object and blamed/fined the maker.

[davidross]

Many thanks Qrt.S for a swift and informative reply!

I never would have guessed GAS, but now it appears quite clearly. I am very pleased to learn so much about the master who made these beautiful pieces, also that the pattern is still in existence. I have already looked at a few other pieces by him, also in this neo-Rococo vein.

A very minor point regarding the date. In my photo, the date does looks like 1866 because a small vertical smudge to the third number crosses the mouth of the 5. On close examination and comparison to the same mark on the second spoon, it is definitely 1856.

I will save my trepidation for another topic in the near future, a gilt silver traveling icon.

Kind regards

[Zolotnik]

Hi davidross -
for a "novice" exploring Russian silver it might be curious to find also Latin instead of Cyrillic lettering on the silversmith´s/makers abbreviations. The explanation is very simple: St. Petersburg was the capital city of Russia (Court of the Tsar !) at that time and a big magnet for international (Finns, Balts, Germans, English, French etc.) artists.
Furthermore lived many Europeans at the Court of the Tsar (military, managment etc.), who liked the "old" European style of silver more than the Russian style - this requirements could best be satisfied by European smiths.

Regards
Zolotnik

[Qrt.S]

OK davidross, you have the spoons in your hands. If you say 1856, so be it. It does not change anything because 1856 is still within the frame. Sometimes it is difficult to see the exact year from a rather low density photo.

Have a nice day

[davidross]

Many thanks again to Qrt.S and Zolotnik for such a wealth of information about two tablespoons.

My apologies for the poor quality of the pics in my earlier post, I'm still a novice at picture posting. Hopefully this additional photo will be some small compensation.

Kind regards
David Ross