Featured Unusual russian enamel cigarette case

I've bought what seems to me a austro-hungarn enamelled cigarette case with a Colombine painting, but opening it with better light and more time I was surprised to found totally unusual russian hallmarks with the Vienna import mark, it's a 88 zolotniki silver russian hallmark made certainly as a command, russian silversmiths never paint the Comedia dell'arte subject for the russian market.
Somebody on the forum has seen such a special item ?
For a better view I make a conversion to the bw, in gold it's very difficult to read.


And the cigarette case itself.


Condition is near perfect as you can see, not the best maker for the silver but the enamel make as a champlevé is really superb.

 

It is beautiful, Lecollect. And yes, Moscow made, and Vienna imported between 1891 and 1901.
88 zolotniki is unusual, a real quality piece. I can't find the maker, maybe @DragonflyWink knows.

 

very nice......

 

OOOOOOOOOH!!!!!! YUUUUUMMM!!!!! LOVELY!!

 

VERY difficult marks to read, at best!!!

 

beautiful piece

 

I've never seen 88 zolotnik before. 84, yes, not 88. What does that equate to in silver purity? About 90%?

 

Close, .916. It was only used for quality pieces.

 

This would have been rather naughty at the time.

 

LOVE IT !!! ... Joy.

 

Not in Vienna, they got up to much worse. Or better.

 

this is a nice read..... on Russian silver...

https://www.acsilver.co.uk/acsnews/2015/11/20/russian-silver/


There are three types of Russian silver standards:

1. 91 Zolotnik which equals 947.9 (or 94.79%) millesimal fineness
2. 88 Zolotnik which equals 916.6 (or 91.66%) millesimal fineness
3. 84 Zolotnik which equals 875 (or 87.5%) millesimal fineness

It is possible to come across other purities of Russian silver; ’84’ zolotnik is by far the most common.

 

91 zolotniki like that ?

on that cigarette case

excuse me for the bad picture quality, but just made quickly to illustrate this post

High grade of purity is used on the most complicated pieces simply because the melting point is higher, if you have to put your work several times in oven for a lot of differents colours, more high you are and more easy it is to make.
To support enamel and the fact than silver is soft after heating, the widht of silver used is easily twice as for embossed work for those reasons.
This is a good way to be sure your russian silver item is make under the tzar era, they are very heavy comparing to revolutionary or german for example, a good cigarette case weights easily 300 grams(pieces make combining gun metal and silver are not in that category, always lighter than silver ones).
I haven't seen faked nicotiniana pieces using the technique of soldering authentic hallmarks as you can find on table pieces, the most dangerous pieces made in israel with faked hallmarks obtained by electrolysis of faked kokoshnik punches.

 

YYEESSSS! Another beauty. Do you collect them?

 

Not especially russian items, but when I have a piece over the standart, I kept them in place to put it on sale, and after some decades…
A little assortiment of nicotiana and "objets de vertu" are my small peasure at home.

 

In other words, you're a fellow hoarder; it's just that you hoard a better class of "stuff" than many of us.

 

That's mainly because I make that since a long time and be active with my wife in repair and sale of those items, but it doesn't always function, this afternoon, a good auction and nothing really interesting that I can buy, prices were too high for me.

 

As the saying goes, I can name that tune in five notes. Anything good goes for crazy money sometimes.

 

That was not everyrhing but some prices explodes due to the death of the artist and the quality of the pieces, when it's difficult to find good material, some fools are paying too high comparing to market prices, when it's for your collection you can pay more than the reseller world but not 20-30% higher than normal prices.

 

Silly isn't the word for that, but there is an old English/American saying about fools and money....