Featured Vintage russian silver compact / box

I wonder if anyone can ID maker or at least point me in a right direction.
I bought this small russian box on flea market and it is dated 1943. But there are no hallmarks or any marks at all.

 

pill box..?

 

And the mirror to see pills clearer?

 

I'd say powder, but the mirror is hardly the size of a Susan B. Anthony......

Did they have lip gloss back then..???

 

Don't know. What I do know this would be a VERY expensive present in Russia (Leningrad) in a middle of WWII. And without markings or hallmarks I don't even know where to start.

 

The piece is classy for sure.
By tomorrow there should be more eyes on it..!

are you certain it's Russian?
Stuff moved around a lot during the war.........
Just saying.....

 

It is a gorgeous little compact. Have you searched around the edges for impossibly small marks?
It could have been made at an earlier date and engraved for a special occasion during the war. My mother was 16 in 1940, when Germany invaded the Netherlands. My grandfather anticipated he might not be able to buy her a nice present for her 18th birthday, and bought a gold and aquamarine ring right at the start of the war, to keep and give to her on her 18th birthday, if both were still alive. Thankfully they were, and she got the perfect present for her 18th. They both survived the war, and I have the ring now.

They had lip pomade. They also had powder rouge, which this could have been for.

 

I can't be certain of anything at this point. The inscription is in Russian and basically states "from loved to my love 1943 Leningrad".
Leningrad was under siege by Germans until Jan 1944. There was almost nothing to eat and any kind of jewelry presents were out of ordinary.
I looked everywhere and there are no markings, not even a hint.

The box is silver, inlays are 14k Russian gold, I can tell by color. The inscription is period correct and workmanship is pretty much perfect.
That is all I know.

 

Yes, it looks Russian to me. Without the date I would have thought early 20th century. The look, and the situation in Leningrad at the time, make me think it was an older piece, engraved in 1943 for a special occasion. It is very touching.

 

I don't know about silver personal accessories, but all the Soviet-era gold jewellery I have seen has 3 or 4 marks in conspicuous places. Maybe it was for pretending to powder your nose while really keeping an eye on the person behind you!

 

Is this a hallmark??

 

Hi,
I love the box and it has my Gram's initials.
greg

 

No just a little wear from closing lid.

 

If it was made in 1943, I don't know if anyone was assaying silver in Leningrad at the time. But it looks pre-war to me, possibly even pre-Soviet.

 

Lenny, that is a lovely little piece!

I'm going to agree with everyone who said "compact" or "powder", and add, "perhaps rouge".

I don't want to hijack your thread, just want to show that the size is perfectly appropriate for powder and/or rouge at the time it was made.

This one was my grandmother's and still has rouge in it:

 

Beautiful, SBSVC.

 

Ok...the Guilloche enamel is lovely ...and there are hinges and compartments aplenty.....and it's very feminine ....which the OP's box is not.....to my eye...which is why I didn't think powder....unless some of the guts are missing....which also may have held metal or makers marks....
just sayin....

 

I agree with Anyjewelry that the compact itself is much older than the engraved date.Id have thought it 1870s-80s. I cant imagine in 1943 when things were at their grimmest that someone would worry about engraving a gift when the majority of the people were starving to death.
Ive got the pillbox to your compact SBSVC! Also my grandmothers.

 

If I were guessing (and not just drooling all over that box!) I'd say it was pre-Revolution too. If it was for powder it's missing some innards, as Komo mentioned, and that may be where the marks were. There may have been a removable powder or lip salve container that's gone its merry way.

 

You know what, Johnny? My Grandma had one of those, too! She used to carry her "nitro tablets" in it. I wonder what ever happened to it? I know that I don't have it...