Lot 0009
Rare Russian Bronze and Malachite Tea-Drinking Inkstand
Estimate: 6000-8000€
A Rare Russian Inkstand with Tea-Drinking Scene
Moscow (?), 1850s.
Bronze, malachite, glass; casting, gilding, malachite mosaic. Dimensions: 19 x 16 cm.
This rare inkstand is conceived as a compact genre scene centered on the ritual of Russian tea-drinking. A bearded seated figure, shown in quiet concentration with a teacup in hand, is placed beside a table covered with a cloth and set with a samovar, cup with saucer, and small vessels. The writing implements are ingeniously absorbed into the composition, so that the object unites narrative detail with practical function in the manner characteristic of mid-19th-century Russian cabinet bronzes.
Such objects belong to the important development of Russian genre bronze in the pre-Reform decade, when the amusing peasant types of earlier decades gradually gave way to more varied and observant scenes drawn from everyday national life. In works of this kind, functional desk accessories were transformed into miniature sculptural tableaux, combining ornamental purpose with storytelling.
Comparable item in Russian State Historical museum: https://catalog.shm.ru/entity/OBJECT/2870625?query=чаепитие&index=42
Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Hammer Price: €
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Estimate: 2500-3000€
Hammer Price: €