Lot 0073
Russian Triple-Layer Glass Tumbler and Saucer with Presentation Inscription, Nikolsko-Pestrovsky Glassworks, 1893
Estimate: 2500-3500€
A RUSSIAN GLASS TUMBLER AND SAUCER OF TRIPLE-LAYER GLASS WITH PRESENTATION INSCRIPTION Penza Province, Nikolsko-Pestrovsky Glassworks of the Bakhmetev family, 1893.
Clear glass, milk glass, pink glass; cutting, carving, gilt decoration.
Dimensions
Tumbler: 10 × 9 cm.
Saucer: diameter 14 cm, height 4 cm.
Presentation inscription
In memory of 10 January 1893, to Dmitry Ivanovich Kuznetsov.
A rare tumbler and saucer made in triple-layer glass, combining clear, milk-white, and pink layers. The tumbler is of gently flaring cylindrical form, widening toward the rim. Below a narrow gilt band runs a gilt presentation inscription, encircling the upper register of the vessel. The body is enriched with cut decoration in a lattice pattern alternating with elongated oval reserves, the cutting exposing the contrasting inner layers and creating a lively interplay between the translucent pink outer casing, the opaque white intermediate layer, and the clear glass beneath.
The saucer is conceived en suite, with a broad pink rim and corresponding cut ornament around the well and outer wall.
The Nikolsko-Pestrovsky factory of the Bakhmetev family, founded in 1763, was among the most important Russian glassworks of the 18th and 19th centuries. Renowned for the quality of its crystal, coloured overlays, and virtuoso cutting, the enterprise achieved particular distinction in the 19th century, when it supplied works for aristocratic and courtly patrons. By the late Imperial period, the factory continued to produce highly accomplished pieces uniting technical mastery with elegant decorative effect, to which the present tumbler and saucer belong.
A comparable tumbler of closely related artistic conception is preserved in the State Hermitage Museum, inv. no. ERS-950.
Starting price: 2000€
Estimate: 2500-3500€
Hammer Price: €
Related Lots
-
Lot 0075
Imperial Glass Manufactory Beaker “Dance before the Sultan”, St Petersburg, 1840s–1850s
Estimate: 5000-7000€
Lot 0075
Imperial Glass Manufactory Beaker “Dance before the Sultan”, St Petersburg, 1840s–1850s
Estimate: 5000-7000€Imperial Glass Manufactory. Glass Beaker with the Scene “Dance before the Sultan”
Lithographic Workshop of Terebenev. St Petersburg, 1840s-1850s.
Amethyst glass, transfer-printed decoration, gilding.
Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.8 x 6.8 cm.
A rare amethyst glass beaker decorated with a figural literary scene known as “Dance before the Sultan,” illustrating an episode from Byron’s Don Juan. The cylindrical body is enriched on one side with a transfer-printed composition showing an orientalist feast scene with seated and standing figures in theatrical costume, while the reverse is adorned with a gilt floral spray scattered across the deep violet ground.
The decoration was executed in the technique of decalcomania, or transfer printing, introduced into Russian glassmaking in the 1830s and 1840s. In this process, a lithographed image printed in silicate pigments was first transferred onto paper, then applied to the glass surface and fired, so that the paper burned away and the image remained permanently fixed. This method made it possible to reproduce complex figural and narrative compositions with a degree of precision previously difficult to achieve in glass decoration.
The beaker is associated with the lithographic workshop of K. I. Terebenev and P. P. Semechkin, whose work played an important role in the development of printed decoration on Russian porcelain, faience, and glass. Their workshop specialized in combining lithographed imagery with painted gilding and ornamental embellishment, drawing on literary, allegorical, landscape, and historical subjects, as well as reproductions after European masters. Contemporary critics valued the technique for both its artistic refinement and its capacity to bring complex pictorial sources into the sphere of decorative art.
A comparable example is published in O. M. Polyashova, Russian Glass of the 18th to Early 20th Century, p. 161.Starting price: 4000€
Estimate: 5000-7000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0072
Imperial Glass Manufactory Glass with Stand and Cover, after A. Barmin, St Petersburg, 1820
Estimate: 8000-9000€
Lot 0072
Imperial Glass Manufactory Glass with Stand and Cover, after A. Barmin, St Petersburg, 1820
Estimate: 8000-9000€Imperial Glass Manufactory. Glass with Stand and Cover
after a design by A. Barmin
Russia, St Petersburg, 1820.
Gilt bronze, mirror.
Blown glass, cutting in the Russkii kamen’ manner, casting, gilding. Dimensions: 14,5 x 16 x 12,5 cm.
A cylindrical covered glass in finely cut crystal, mounted in an elaborate gilt-bronze stand with integral undertray. Executed after a design by A. Barmin, the piece belongs to the refined early Empire production of the Imperial Glass Manufactory, where architectonic clarity of form was joined to the brilliance of Russian cut crystal and the elegance of gilt-metal mounts.
The vessel is decorated in the so-called “Russian stone” manner, a type of deep geometric cutting intended to imitate the faceted richness and sculptural play of hardstone carving. The crystal body is enlivened by a dense network of intersecting cuts, diamonds, and reserved circular lenses, which catch and refract light with exceptional vividness.
The gilt-bronze mount enhances the ceremonial character of the object. The domed cover is enriched with radiating palm leafs ornament and bordered by a finely chased band; the scrolling snake handle and applied lion’s feet supports are cast with delicacy and precision. See simeilar item in State Hermitage museum collection: https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/digital-collection/35948?lng=ruStarting price: 7000€
Estimate: 8000-9000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0074
Rare Russian Cameo Glass Vase “Forest Landscape”, Imperial Glass Manufactory, St Petersburg, 1915
Estimate: 17000-22000€
Lot 0074
Rare Russian Cameo Glass Vase “Forest Landscape”, Imperial Glass Manufactory, St Petersburg, 1915
Estimate: 17000-22000€A Rare Russian Cameo Glass Vase “Forest Landscape”
Imperial Glass Manufactory, St Petersburg, 1915
Multi-layer glass, acid-etched, carved.
Height: 23 cm. Diameter: 27 cm.
Marked on the underside NII in cyrillic and dated 1915,
A substantial spherical vase on a low spreading foot, conceived as a continuous forest panorama. The body is worked in layered glass of warm amber and reddish-brown tones, over which a dark silhouetted landscape has been etched: serrated fir trees, overhanging pine branches, boulders, reeds, and gently rippling water.
The piece belongs to the artistic vocabulary of Russian Art Nouveau, where glass became a medium of exceptional atmospheric power. Its decorative program is built not on isolated ornament, but on an immersive landscape image unfolding around the entire circumference of the vessel. This continuous treatment of surface, together with the nuanced play of translucency and matte engraving, gives the vase a distinctly painterly character. In the production of the Imperial Glass Manufactory, landscape motifs are comparatively uncommon, which makes this example especially noteworthy.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Art Nouveau glass drew on a wide range of sources, from medieval and classical art to folk traditions, but was especially shaped by the growing fascination with the Far East after the Paris World Exhibition, where Japanese decorative art had a profound impact. This influence encouraged an associative, image-based approach to design, in which color and ornament carried symbolic and emotional meaning.
Glass proved an ideal medium for Art Nouveau because of its rich chromatic range, luminosity, translucency, and painterly effects. These qualities gave works an organic, impressionistic expressiveness and made multi-layered cameo glass one of the most powerful vehicles of the new style in Europe and Russia alike.
The Imperial Glass Manufactory produced a remarkably varied range of Art Nouveau objects, characterized by flowing forms, curved ornament, and motifs drawn from nature. Landscape subjects, however, remained extremely rare and are known mainly from the first decade of the 20th century.Starting price: 15000€
Estimate: 17000-22000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0071
Imperial Glass Manufactory Glass with Stand and Cover, St Petersburg, 1820
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Lot 0071
Imperial Glass Manufactory Glass with Stand and Cover, St Petersburg, 1820
Estimate: 6000-8000€Imperial Glass Manufactory. Glass with Stand and Cover
Russia, St Petersburg, 1820.
Colourless crystal, mirror, gilt bronze.
Blown glass, cut in the peacock feather pattern, casting, gilding.
Dimensions: 15 × 21 × 15 cm.
A covered glass with stand, executed in colourless crystal and mounted in gilt bronze, is a refined example of early nineteenth-century production at the Imperial Glass Manufactory. The vessel is set within an elegant circular frame above a mirrored base and accompanied by a richly modeled handle, the whole conceived as a luxurious table object in the Empire taste.
The crystal body is cut in the so-called “peacock feather” pattern, a decorative system in which elongated oval and eye-shaped motifs create a fluid, iridescent play of light across the surface. The lower part of the vessel rises from a faceted foot.
The gilt-bronze mounting is particularly elaborate. The stand rests on three finely cast lions feet and encloses a mirrored plateau that enhances the brilliance of the crystal by multiplying its reflections. The curving handle, cast in the form of a stylized serpent, introduces a dynamic sculptural accent and reflects the Empire fascination with antique and exotic ornamental vocabularies. The domed lid is enriched with radiating floral vine amd clusters ornament and delicate beaded detailing, completing the object with a note of ceremonial richness.
Comparable works are preserved in major Russian museum collections, including the State Hermitage Museum and the State Historical Museum in Moscow.Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Hammer Price: €