Catalogue

A Russian Silver Tea Service in the Original Fitted Wood Case
Maker’s mark of Pavel Ovchinnikov with Imperial Warrant
St. Petersburg, 1895
Total silver weight: 1302 g
Height of teapot: 14 cm
Dimensions of the box: 30.5 × 50.5 × 14 cm

Comprising a teapot, sugar bowl, cream jug, tea strainer, sugar tongs, and twelve spoons, all finely crafted in silver and preserved in the original velvet-lined wooden traveling case, the interior of the lid stamped in gilt with the Imperial double-headed eagle and the Cyrillic inscription Iz magazina fabrikanta P. Ovchinnikova (“From the shop of the manufacturer P. Ovchinnikov”).

Pavel Akimovich Ovchinnikov (1830–1888) was one of the most distinguished Russian silversmiths and enamel artists of the nineteenth century. Born a serf, he trained in Moscow and, after purchasing his freedom in 1850, founded his own workshop in 1851. By the 1860s, his factory had become one of the largest in Russia, employing over a hundred craftsmen and gaining recognition as the leading innovator of the Neo-Russian style.

Appointed official supplier to the Imperial Court in 1865, Ovchinnikov mastered and revived ancient Russian techniques in silver creations, often decorated with folkloric motifs, became symbols of Russian national identity and artistic revival.

Today, works by Ovchinnikov are represented in the State Hermitage Museum, the State Historical Museum, and the Russian Museum, as well as in major private collections worldwide.

Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Hammer Price: 5 000 €

A Fabergé Silver Neoclassical Vase
Moscow, firm of Karl Fabergé, 1899-1908.
Silver, gilding; casting, chasing, engraving.
Dimensions: 13 × 11.5 cm.
Total weight: 328 g.
Marks: firm mark К. ФАБЕРЖЕ beneath the Imperial warrant; Moscow assay mark; 84 zolotniki silver standard.
A refined Fabergé silver vase in the Neoclassical taste, formed as a shallow circular bowl raised on an architectural tripod support. The plain, gently rounded upper bowl has a softly gilded interior and is bordered by a fine beaded rim. Its restrained surface contrasts with the elaborately worked stem and base, where curved supports are enriched with laurel garlands, palmettes, Greek-key ornament and delicate engraved foliage.
The three supports terminate in lion-paw feet, a classical motif that gives the object a ceremonial and sculptural presence.
The Moscow branch of Fabergé was especially renowned for silver objects, tableware and decorative works in historical and national styles. Unlike the more discreet St Petersburg establishment, the Moscow branch responded to the taste of a wealthy merchant and cosmopolitan clientele, producing objects that combined technical refinement with visual richness. By the turn of the century, Fabergé’s Moscow factory had become one of the largest jewellery and silver workshops in the Russian Empire.

Starting price: 3000€
Estimate: 3500-4500€
Hammer Price: Not sold

A Russian engraved and silver-gilt wallet with a proverb: “Those who save their money will live without need”. Moscow, the end of the 19th century.
Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.5 x 2.3 cm. Weight: 43 g.

Starting price: 250€
Estimate: 300-400€