Featured 1857 Russian Silver Cigarette Box

I know that Russian silver is rife with fakes and reproductions, but I bought this cigarette case listed as sterling instead of 875, with no reference at all to its origin, so I figured it would be a safe wager. Particularly since it's shape is unique. I found the assayer as Edudard Fedorovich and the city mark as St. Petersburg, but the maker's mark is a mystery to me.
Worst case scenario, I figure, is that I'm out a bit of money and I get a harsh lesson to boot.

 

Looks gold washed inside.
Nice piece. Sorry, I can't help with the marks.

 

Very nice piece!!

We have all had those "harsh lessons" & many of us have had more than a couple.

 

@Barn Owl are you talking about this mark?? If so, doesn't part of it look like 2 different kinds of hammers....one with a round weight on the bottom?? Would that be a crowned head in the middle looking right? OK, that's all I've got...........

 

There is a full list of silver makers in Saint Petersburg. It's in Russian and not very comfortable for the search. But I hope this can be helpful
http://skurlov.blogspot.com/2013/05/1849-1917.html

 

@Barn Owl, also found this for you to dig thru.....quite a few look pretty close....scroll down a wee bit to St. Petersburg....

https://www.925-1000.com/Frussia_city_01.html

 

Found a very good one in English that lists all the versions of the marks for each maker. http://www.pseudology.org/Bank/Ivanov_MasteraGoldSilverDela2a.pdf

 

@April07 Could you confirm that the date below the assayer's initials is supposed to be the year in which the item was assayed? If so, this cigarette box is from 1857?

It does not look to be of that period to me. I would have figured it to be younger - like early 20th century at the earliest.

 

MAAAAN! That's SOME nice scanning/photo resolution equipment that was used!!!!
Am only half way through!!!

 

Yes, 1857 should be the date when the item was assayed.
It looks consistent with the assayer's initials.
According to the information that I found so far, Э.Б. - stands for Edward Brandenburg who worked as an assayer in St. Petersburg from 1850 to 1866.

 

Thank you, but it wasn't the assayer/date consistency I was questioning. I questioned whether the box itself is designed in a style that would have been made in the middle1800s.

 

That I can't say, I just gave the information I found so far.

 

Oh, sorry, April I was hoping you might know.

So, anyone else have thoughts on the box itself?

 

Don't you think it looks like the St.
Petersburg mark as Aqui said?

https://www.925-1000.com/Frussia_city_01.html

 

Maybe it's not cigarettes.
Maybe it's matches, and the outside is the striker.

@Barn Owl What are the measurements please?

 

@Barn Owl This one is from 1862, same maker (ES) as yours.
The shape is called "envelope".

 

The one on the photos above is listed at 50000 rubles ($700) but yours is in much better condition, of course.

 

Thank you! I'm happy by how pristine the gold wash is.

Thank you!

Yeah, I've had too many. I'm beginning to get a bit better at researching, but I recently way overspent on an old pocket watch.

I think it's the St. Petersburg mark. Just one of the orbs is a bit smushed.

Thank you! I'll take a look.

Thank you! Now that I know it's ES and not KB like I thought, I hope to find it.

This is a great resource, thank you, April! I'll save it.

I was a little surprised too by its age, because I tend to associate the engine-turned designs more with art deco cigarette cases.

It's 4 inches long and around 2 inches wide, so too big for matches probably.

Thank you! I'm shocked to see that one is listed at $700. Glad to see another with a similar date mark.

 

Using this resource, I found a few it might be based on first and last initials.

Egor Semenovich, 1868: spr. Prince merchant. councils, 74 g., in the compartment. since 1847, coup. 2nd guild. Address: Mosk. h., Nikolaevskaya st., 106/12, p. D. Starosta silver workshops in 1835/37.

SELMAN Johann - Eric, 1867: ZDM, Gorokhovaya, 6, apt. 2 (shop).

SISTONEN Enokh Stepanovich, 1867: ZDM, Karavannaya St., 20, apt. 11.1874: Gold: 36 p. 38 s. Silver: 30g. 1877: Ref. Prince merchant. council, finals. harvest., 40 liters., SDM, in the compartment. from the 2nd floor. 1874, compartment 1st guild. In 1898, Mr .. elected as a deputy to inspect commercial and industrial institutions. 1900–1903 Z. and S .: Sadovaya, 15. Address: Spassk. h., ug. B. Sadovaya and Nevsky, 15-50. Mast. in the same place.

SISTONEN Eric Johann, (b. 1828 in Finland, d. 1878), in 1847 came to study in St. Petersburg, in 1852 became an apprentice, and in 1868 SDM, 1874: Bronnitskaya St., 19. Silver: 15 p. 3 f. 62 s. In 1899, he presented the assay control department to St. Petersburg. ed. Postnikova — Loseva: hallmarks No. 1583, 1584.

 

not if the bar holding the cigarettes down...is missing..