Gold box engraving

Corner by Searchers posted Apr 12, 2019 at 12:40 PM

Corner by Searchers posted Apr 12, 2019 at 12:40 PM

 

Ivory where I am is problematic on a good day. It would need all sorts of documentation. Without it, it's worth its weight in scrap gold.

 

Actually, if I haven't gone completely cross-eyed, the two left hand corners appear to say the same thing, while the upper right looks like it says almost the same thing, with a different last word that rhymes with the first two.

And then this one names the friend? Would 'In remembrance of' also be a reasonable translation?

 

Rather I would translate this 'as a souvenir'. Three corners say as a souvenir from a friend, the fourth - 'as a souvenir from Borka'. Borka seems to be a misspelt word Bor'ka - short colloquial from Boris. Just as a version: if the friend was a non-native Russian speaker, for example, a Chinese who took a Russian name, such misspelling could be explainable (or a mistake of the engraver).

 

Also, it was surely engraved before the reform of 1918, the ending of the word 'from' still has this sign: Ъ, which was not in use afterwards.

 

might the gold marks help ??

Why has no one asked about the gold marks....did I miss a post ?

 

Thank you, April. Since OP says case was a gift c. 1930, is it possible the spelling reforms did not reach everywhere in the first year? Could have used you to back up Fig when we were working this out:

 

I think if there is the info that the monogram did not match the recipient, it is probable that it was engraved earlier and for a different person.
I can hardly imagine someone using those letters in the 1930s

 

The photo you posted looks like a memorial board:
President IAH (?) Alexei (or Aleksandr) Nikolaevich Olenin Born 21 Nov 1767, Died 17 Apr (or Aug) 1843

 

Olenin was President of the Imperial Academy of Art & then also director of the library. The engraving is on the back of a portrait cameo that is only about an inch tall:



Gem & medal engraving were taught at the Academy. Julia Kagan, of the Hermitage, believes this is the work of Dobrokhotov, who assisted in the teaching. It looks very much like the medallion of Olenin on his grave monument. The pre-reform italic script made it a challenge. Thought we were encountering the same thing with the cigarette case.

 

Then the abbreviation makes sense - ИАХ - Imperial Academy of Art. Very interesting, thanks!

 

Thank you all so much!

 

It’s a beautiful box, the cats are full of life and character. The pinned metal plates, while aesthetically pleasing, seem less refined in their shape. The heart shaped plate piece in the center of the top with no engraving feels weird or out of place to me.
I have very little expertise here. It just seems odd to me.

 

If you'd like the entertainment of how we thrashed it out, see:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/cameos-show-tell-or-ask-answer.23493/page-44#post-447986

starting with post #875, interspersed with other topics.

 

I had the same thought: the center plate was meant to be monogrammed. I also wonder whether the ivory was cut from a larger scene or frieze. Having only part of the lion visible does not strike me as odd, but having such a small part of what looks like another lioness visible on the far right does seem a bit strange.

 

@April07 , Thank you for replying to my tag!

@Bronwen , I was doing this quickly from my phone while waiting for weekend guests to arrive. Not being a native Russian speaker I often cross-check translations before venturing but didn't do it this time. I actually could read the words fairly easily, except the name seemed a bit odd. I even recognized the use of the old lettering but hadn't thought about the fact that it was from 1930. That does seem odd.

 

You may not be fully fluent, but your knowledge has been so helpful, & so much appreciated, again & again. I can only apply a little bit of Greek & the services of IM Translator.

 

The phrase posted in the top two photos is likely "na pamyat otya druga" "In memory (of my/a) friend"

In the last photo, which used a different engraver!, we can see that the Russian capital Ns are not made like traditional Hs but like Ks. This is evident in the capital letter in "Na pamyat" where in the top two photos it is an H and in the final photo it is a K. This would mean that the florid name-nicikname-title, remember it IS the art of engraving we are dealing with, begins with what I would identify as a Russian capital F, in all its engraving glory, followed by o r n, as a k, and i. I have no idea what Forni means. I believe in Russian it would be objective case if anyone wanted to roll it back.

Just my two rubelyay.

 

i believe it's bench made by a good crafts person and OOAK...from parts .