Featured Holy water plaque. Where from?

it is 5 1/2" long, glass font. the Plaque looks like it might be silver.
I didn't want to try and polish it.
The writing on the plaque is the clue to where it is from. could be Russian as I got it from the Russian thrift store.
Mikey

 

They are abbreviations, in Russian. If you look at Russian icons of Mary with Child, you will see the same markings.

 

It is Greek text. But that doesn't mean this plaque is not Russian. It is quite common to see a combination of Church Slavic and Greek on Russian icons. Texts on icons are never in Russian, though.

 

Thank you for the clarification. It was the shape of the mu that was misleading me.

 

Thank you a very much. Do you think its silver? Plated? Should I polish it?

 

That cross is Orthodox, too.

 

Yes, from the oil sheen/rainbow look it is probably plated. However, in my experience, trying to polish that away is a waste of time. There is likely to be a substance applied that is intended to keep the plating from tarnishing that has been damaged by someone's attempt to clean it. Don't bother. Any improvement will be very fleeting.

 

Not that it’s impossible for Solid silver to achieve that look but I’d agree for the same reasons. Looks plated in the photos. If Russian they are pretty good about marking stuff typically.

 

Thanks a lot. I kind of like it better not polished anyway. Has that antiqued look.