Featured Antique Russian spoons

Just sharing *coughshowingoffcoughcough* my recently acquired "silver plated" spoons ... 2 are marked with the Russian standard 84, which corresponds to 84/96 parts pure silver ... or .875 silver. These also are stamped with the Moscow city mark of St. George astride a horse. The maker and assayer marks are incomplete (or worn) and I can only guess at them.

I would like to know what these were used for? The large is 7¼" (18.3cm) long with a bowl measuring over 2" (5.4cm) across, the smalls are 5¼" and just under 5" (13cm and 12.5cm) long.

The designs on the back of their bowls are so pretty ... almost too pretty to use. My favorite is the unmarked one, which is the smallest - a mystery why there is no stamping on it, though.



back detail of the large spoon


stamps on the handle of large spoon
I see maker mark "M.C." for Mikhail Fyodorvich Sokolov (1860-1890) and a partial assay with the date of 1889


detail of the two small spoons


Stamp on the marked small spoon. I see фИ for Fyodor Ivanov (1843-1882) and an assay date of 187?


and ... just because it's my favorite ... the detail of the small unmarked spoon

 

WOW!
Nice!

 

Personally, don't comment on Russian silver other than Soviet - it's a complicated field, filled with fakes and forgeries - not suggesting that your pieces are, though the small one looks odd to me, and it should be marked. Might suggest posting in the Russian forum on 925-1000 (if you're not registered, just read the posting requirements and use a different handle than your seller name) - they are a knowledgeable, if not always agreeable bunch, not only in the marks, but in what the spoons' original uses would have been...

http://www.925-1000.com/forum/index.php

~Cheryl

 

i love russian silver~ my local auction have a few lots of it from time to time, and i was THIS close *squeezing fingers together and makes a concentrated face* to buying a russian silver box shaped like an egg~ but of cause some annoying guy had to keep bidding and i had already spend enough money on silver that day D:

 

Wouldn't those marks indicate that these are solid silver spoons (at a lower standard than sterling) and not plated?

 

Shhhhhhh .... the thrift shop doesn't know what these marks mean

 

If authentic, yes, Brad.

 

and thats how we like it

 

Ah ..... now I get why silver plated has quotation marks around it. Just a little slow here today.

I bought a pair of similarly marked larger, older, but not as fancy spoons from an antique dealer in a shop at 50% off (50 cents each) a couple years ago. Obviously, she had them awhile so it is not just the thrift stores that don't know what the marks mean. Have also picked up old silver with loth marks from dealers for very little. You would think that in this day and age of the internet, that dealers would at least try to know more about what they are selling. The buyers are also clueless but they at least don't have a vested interest in knowing.

 

LOL! I know what they are all for in English...but not Russian. The only thing I DO know is that none are for caviar!

 

Thank you. I must be more naive than I thought.

Never would I have guessed that Russian silver, other than the ultra-fancy stuff or Fabergé, would be faked ... especially with the time it would take to hand engrave/stamp the design on these. They certainly couldn't profit that much on each little piece such as mine ... but what do I know?

I will take your advice and show these to the folks at the Russian forum at 925-1000 and gather some more info.

Thank you again, DragonflyWink for pointing me in that direction

 

Russian silver is desirable in all forms, less so in the last few years with the existence of so many fakes becoming common knowledge, have seen very simple pieces with faked marks so bad that even I could tell, and sometimes genuine old pieces from elsewhere will be overstamped with Russian marks. I am not at all qualified to say whether your spoons are fake or not, the two larger look good to me, but I don't know much - their typical Russian form is a good sign in my mind, but again, not my area...

Usually I just ignore posts on old Russian silver, not wanting to get involved, but you seemed interested in learning more, and if they're 'right', you'd have confirmation, so thought the Russian Forum guys might be helpful - fair warning, they can be a cantankerous bunch (with one exception), but they generally like the ladies.

~Cheryl

 

Thanks for clarifying your post.

I can deal with a bit of cantankerousness (especially with advanced warning) ... I just hope they aren't haughty and condescending on top of it.

 

They're more just frustrated by all the fakes, and sometimes will argue points amongst themselves - definitely an interesting group...

~Cheryl

 

I'd venture that happens here too !!!