Featured Age of Russian Filigree Silver Plate Tea Glass Holders

Hoping I’ve ID’d these correctly as Russian silver plate tea glass holders.
They are marked MK5 on the base, one has T and one I stamped as well.
I’m struggling with their age so any ideas on that would be helpful please.
The meaning of MK5 is still a mystery too, the factory or maker?
Thanks for looking

 

Don't know how likely this is, but... this eBay seller says that the MK5 mark is for Krasnoe on Volga, which translates into English as Red on Volga. I don't know what source the seller used for the information that this was their mark. The seller is located in that part of the world.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165918555447

Krasnoe on Volga is a village that apparently was (or is) known for filigree work and has a filigree museum. This page about filigree jewelry mentions at the end that it was the most famous of the Russian filigree centers. And this page has some eye-candy photos, too. https://jewel-fashion.com/filigree/

 

Thanks for finding that Fig! Appreciate you looking as I’d drawn a blank

 

You're welcome! I'm not sure if the mark means what they say, but at least it's something to research.

 

Interesting that they have confidently dated it to 1955. That gives me a ball park timeline for mine as they have exactly the same handle. Crazy money ambition though for silver plate, I was going to start mine at about twenty quid!

 

No, could be artistic license, that’s how these things grow like Topsy.

 

Very nice KSW, my paternal grandparents had similar and they would sip hot tea from the glass inserts.

BTW they were from Ukraine.

 

I was doing some poking around on Russian silverplate recently. When you get into Tsarist Russian stuff, pre 1917, it does seem to bring very good money. I mean I only looked at a very small sample but I liked what I saw there. The Soviet era may be a totally different story. All I’ve had from that era are bits of jewelry and little pins and stuff of relatively minimal value.

 

KSW,
MK with a number is the mark of Krasnoe Selo Jewelry factory, according to discussions in Russian forums. The number marks the year, Number 5 should be for 1975 if there is no dot after 5
M is for metal, K is for Krasnoselskijy. In 1955 the factory had a different name and used the mark MKЮ5
I can post the link to a lengthy discussion on the topic, in Russian
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://podstakanoff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342&ved=2ahUKEwji_cySycD9AhXrSPEDHfnuBBEQFnoECBEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3HCk8x2Czi5ys-yaskv0mP
According to it, your items were made in Krasnoselskij Jewerly factory in 1975 (edit, if there is a dot after 5, it is 1965, if there is no dot, it is 1975) not silver, most probably copper alloy, but can be also other non precious metal.
Krasnoselskij factory is indeed located in village Krasnoe na Volge, (Red on the Volga), Kostroma region.
The seller on ebay is right.

 

Thankyou Iva!
That is fabulous information, I’ll have a read of the link.
Edit, just realised it’s in Russian which is beyond my talents but Thankyou for sharing the information in it.

 

KSW, you are welcome!

I edited my previous post about the year, it is 1975, according to the Russian discussion. If there is a dot after 5, then 1965, if there is no dot, then 1975. I don't see a dot after 5, but you can judge better

You can still try to read the discussion with Google translate, IMO. At least you can only translate paragraphs where years are written, they give the whole history of the factory, its various names and corresponding hallmarks.
The discussion is very long and thorough, many similar items with their marks from this factory are presented and discussed, and the rules of marking are given.

P.S. Sorry for the link in Russian, items like those are very much discussed in Russian antique forums and a lot of information can be found there, which is not available in English.

 

Figtree3, very well done!

 

In addition to my previous post, Krasnoe selo and also the entire Kostroma region, was indeed a centre of silversmith and filigree dating back to Imperial Russia.

The Russian forum I posted the link to, is entirely devoted to this kind of glass holders called podstakannik ( literary "a thing below glass"), Russians were (and still are) used to drink hot tea in glass cups that could not be held in hand without these holders. They are very collectible and much discussed even not made of silver because of the craft in their making.

 

You are right, the items from Imperial Russia or Tsarist Russia are expensive as they are relatively scarce. But many people collect USSR items too. I myself have a small collection of USSR porcelain. And quite a big one of USSR books.

 

Amazing -- Good work, @IvaPan !

 

I've a Sputnik holder, which I rather treasure.

 

I did know that items from the USSR era are collectible but generally the monetary value is relatively low on many things right? Particularly compared to Russian Empire items. I know propaganda type posters and some artwork from that era are good but many things while collected aren’t bringing “big” money, yet?

 

What is a Sputnik holder?

 

I assumed something with USSR Sputnik image or form but may be wrong so I join the question.
Sputnik means satellite in Russian.

Well, depends on your assessment of "big monetary value" Of course, Tsarist Russia items in general are much more expensive than Soviet ones but there are USSR era items that can fetch hundreds of USD. For instance, Soviet LFZ (Leningrad porcelain factory, the successor of Imperial Porcelain factory) tea cups are worth 50-60 USD and more a piece, the whole set would go to 200-300. Many USSR porcelain items were decorated with 22 karat gold. Porcelain figurines of the same period are 100-200-300 USD.
I collect illustrated children's books and some are hard to find on ebay (especailly Stalin era books), the ones that are more common and are available, are sold for 30-40 USD. Of course, this is very approximate, just to give the scale of prices.

 

Thank you, Figtree3!