Catalogue

A Russian Art Nouveau Silver and Porcelain Salt Cellar in the Form of a Throne
Moscow, firm of Nemirov-Kolodkin,made by the 3rd Moscow Artel, 1908-1917.
Silver, porcelain, polychrome glaze; casting, chasing, repoussé, engraving, moulding, glazing.
Dimensions: 13 × 11 × 11.5 cm.
Marks: retailer’s mark of Nemirov-Kolodkin; mark of the 3rd Moscow Artel; Moscow assay mark; 84 zolotniki silver standard.
A rare Russian Art Nouveau salt cellar designed in the form of a traditional russian throne “sthool”. The body is made of richly glazed porcelain, with deep cobalt-blue borders and brightly coloured geometric ornament in green, yellow, red and pale blue. The architectural structure, with raised back, side supports and stylised panels, evokes a miniature princely seat or a fairy-tale terem throne.
The hinged silver cover is decorated in relief with a proud cockerel standing among engraved spiral ornament. The bird, rendered with finely chased plumage and a high tail, introduces a distinctly Russian folkloric note.
The firm of Nemirov-Kolodkin was one of the important Moscow suppliers of silver objects in the late Imperial period. Its founder, Nikolai Vasilievich Nemirov-Kolodkin (1819-1886), a merchant of the first guild, jeweller and philanthropist, established a successful firm that continued after his death under his relatives and successors. From 1876 the firm supplied silver tableware for the Imperial kitchen, selecting individual workshops and artels according to the level and nature of each commission.
The object was executed by the 3rd Moscow Artel, whose mark appears on the silver element. The artel form of production emerged in Moscow silverwork in the early twentieth century and is closely connected with the flourishing of the Art Nouveau style. The 3rd Moscow Artel is known for highly accomplished works, including pieces retailed by leading firms and connected with the circle of craftsmen who had worked for or supplied Fabergé, Ovchinnikov, Khlebnikov and other major houses.

Starting price: 2000€
Estimate: 2500-3500€
Hammer Price: €

Russian Imperial glasswork. Glass “Feast of the Sultan”
Imperial Glass Factory, Workshop of P. P. Semechkin and K. I. Terebenev. St. Petersburg, 1840s
Cobalt-blue glass with gilt rim and lithographed decoration over glaze

A rare cobalt-blue glass depicting the scene “Feast of the Sultan”, inspired by Lord Byron’s poem Don Juan. The detailed grisaille lithograph shows an Oriental banquet scene framed by ornamental borders, enhanced with delicate gilding.

Produced in the lithographic workshop of K. I. Terebenev and P. P. Semechkin, the piece exemplifies their innovative use of transfer-printing on glass, porcelain, and faience. Literary subjects such as this were especially fashionable in the 1840s, reflecting the era’s fascination with European Romanticism and narrative imagery.

A comparable example is published in O. M. Polyashova, Russian Glass of the 18th – Early 20th Century, p. 161. Dimensions: 8.3 x 7 cm.

Starting price: 3500€
Estimate: 4000-5000€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€

A Rare Fabergé Jewelled Silver-Mounted Ceramic Kovsh
Moscow, firm of Karl Fabergé, ceramic body attributed to the Imperial Stroganov School, 1908-1917.
Ceramic, silver, cabochon stones; moulding, glazing, casting, chasing, repoussé, stone setting.
Dimensions: 5.4 × 14.2 × 9 cm.
Marks: firm mark К. ФАБЕРЖЕ beneath the Imperial warrant; Moscow assay mark; 84 zolotniki silver standard.
A rare kovsh of rounded bowl form with a broad flat handle, combining a dark glazed ceramic body with a richly worked silver mount. Around the upper register runs an applied silver band with dense relief ornament of scrolling tendrils, stylised geometric motifs and small cabochon stones, including green and red accents. The handle continues the same ornamental language, with raised silver scrolls and inset green cabochons.
The form refers to the traditional Russian kovsh, a ceremonial drinking vessel deeply associated with Muscovite court culture and national decorative idioms. Here, however, the type is reinterpreted through the artistic language of the early twentieth century: heavy ceramic mass, dark glaze, abstracted ornament and jewelled silver mounts create an object that belongs equally to the world of historical revival and Russian Art Nouveau.
The ceramic body associated with the production of the Imperial Stroganov School, whose workshops played an important role in the renewal of Russian applied arts around 1900. Such ceramic objects were sometimes mounted in silver by leading Moscow workshops, among them the firm of Fabergé.
The Moscow branch of Fabergé differed from the St Petersburg establishment in its stronger engagement with Russian national style and silver production. This was partly due to Moscow’s long-standing position as a centre of silversmithing and decorative metalwork. The firm employed and collaborated with artists and craftsmen connected with the Stroganov School, whose training combined drawing, modelling, metalwork, enamel and practical workshop experience. Students and teachers of the school worked with major Moscow firms, and the influence of the Stroganov artistic environment is clearly felt in the national-romantic and ornamental character of many Fabergé Moscow objects.
See similar objects: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5564848 https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/russian-art-n08428/lot.403.html

Starting price: 8000€
Estimate: 9000-12000€
Hammer Price: €

Imperial glass manufactory. Glass decorated with a portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
. Workshop of P. P. Semechkin and K. I. Terebenev. Petersburg, 1840s
Transparent glass with transfer-printed decoration and gilding.
Dimensions: 7.7 x 6 cm.

The glass is adorned with a well-known printed image of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, after the painted original by artist P. I. Razumihin (1812–1848), from the collection of the State Historical Museum. The portrait is framed by a wreath of oak and laurel leaves. Below is the double-headed eagle with scepter and orb; above the garland rises the imperial crown. Oak branches extend to the sides, flanked by four banners on either side of the wreath.
This work exemplifies the lithographic decoration developed by the Terebenev and Semechkin workshop, which specialized in applying portraits of members of the Imperial family to glass, porcelain, and faience objects in combination with gilded ornamentation.

Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 5500-6500€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€

Cup from the Imperial Yacht Standart
Imperial Porcelain Factory, St. Petersburg, 1910
Porcelain, overglaze painting, gilding; underglaze green factory mark.
Dimensions: 5.7 х 10.7 х 8.6 cm.

A white porcelain cup decorated with the Imperial Standard of Russia — a yellow banner featuring the double-headed eagle. Produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory for use aboard the Imperial Yacht Standart, the favorite vessel of Emperor Nicholas II.

Built at the Burmeister & Wain shipyard in Copenhagen (1893–1896), the Standart was among the most luxurious yachts of its time, serving both as a royal residence and a venue for diplomatic receptions. Its onboard tableware combined elegance and practicality — stable, low-centered forms ensured safety during sea travel.

Comparable items are preserved in the Peterhof Museum’s collection “Imperial Yachts.”

Starting price: 500€
Estimate: 600-800€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€

A rare Russian silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel beaker set, in the original fitted case.
Moscow, Third Moscow Artel, retailed by the firm of N. V. Nemirov-Kolodkin, 1908-1917.
Silver, gilding, cloisonné enamel; repoussé, filigree, enamelling, gilding.
Height of each beaker: 7.5 cm.
Total silver weight: 282.6 g.
Marks: maker’s mark of the Third Moscow Artel, “3МА”; Moscow assay mark with 88 zolotnik silver standard; retailer’s mark “Немировъ-Колодкинъ”.
Case: original fitted wooden case, the interior stamped in Cyrillic: “Фабрика и магазинъ Товарищества Н. В. Немирова-Колодкина въ Москвѣ”.
A pair of cylindrical silver-gilt beakers, richly decorated in polychrome cloisonné enamel and holds in the original fitted presentation case.
The principal reserve is made by a stylised sunrise over rolling hills, its radiating rays rendered in red, cream, pale blue and amber enamel. The reverse side is decorated with a poetic naturalistic scene: a white bird standing among flowering branches and broad green leaves, with a small frog below. The composition combines the ornamental language of the neo-Russian style with the decorative refinement of Moscow Art Nouveau. The upper and lower borders are formed by repeated scalloped and arched enamel motifs in white, red, turquoise and dark blue, creating a rhythmic frame around the central scenes.
The set was produced by the Third Moscow Artel, one of the most accomplished Moscow silver workshops of the late Imperial period. Artel production occupied a significant place in Russian decorative art of the early twentieth century, particularly in the field of enamelled silver. Many such workshops were connected with the same professional milieu that supplied or had previously worked for the great Moscow and St Petersburg firms, including Fabergé, Ovchinnikov and Khlebnikov.
The retailer, N. V. Nemirov-Kolodkin, belonged to the important circle of Moscow suppliers of silver and luxury objects. Founded by Nikolai Vasilievich Nemirov-Kolodkin, merchant, jeweller and philanthropist, the firm became known for high-quality silver tableware and presentation pieces. From the late nineteenth century it supplied silver objects for the Imperial household, commissioning work from selected Moscow workshops and artels according to the character of each order.

Starting price: 10000€
Estimate: 12000-15000€
Hammer Price: €

Tea Cup from the Cobalt Caillouté Service
Imperial Porcelain Factory, St. Petersburg, 1881–1894
Porcelain, cobalt ground, gilding, painting, and burnishing
Mark: green underglaze “A III” beneath the Imperial crow.
Dimensions: 6.5 х 10 х 7.5 cm.
A porcelain tea cup from the celebrated Caillouté cobalt service, richly decorated with gilded lattice ornament, floral cartouches, and cobalt-blue ground. The intricate gilding pattern — imitating cobblestone paving — gave the service its French name caillouté.

The design originated from a service produced by the Vienna Manufactory in 1786, gifted to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich by Archduke Joseph II of Austria. Closely following Sèvres forms and style, the lavish gilding and deep cobalt tone made it one of the most distinguished ceremonial services of the Russian court.

Similar pieces are published in Imperial Porcelain Factory 1744–1904, ed. V. V. Znamenov, Global View & St. Petersburg Orchestra, St. Petersburg–Moscow, 2008, pp. 492–493.

Starting price: 400€
Estimate: 500-600€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€

Russian silver stopka / charka, Moscow, 1757, 18th century. Of tapering cylindrical form, finely chased and engraved with rocaille ornament and cartouches enclosing allegorical and heraldic-style motifs, including a lion and a bird among floral scrollwork. A fine mid-18th century drinking vessel with gilt interior.

Height: 8 cm
Weight: 84.4 g

Starting price: 700€
Estimate: 1000-1200€
Hammer Price: €

Gardner Figurine “Seated Pointer”
Porcelain
Maker’s mark of Fabrika Gardner in Moscow with Imperial warrant
Height: 10.7 cm

A finely modeled porcelain figure of a pointer dog, naturalistically painted with brown and white markings. Produced at the renowned Gardner Factory, founded in the 18th century and celebrated for its lifelike animal figures, which were highly prized in 19th-century Russia.

Condition: small chip on the ear.

Starting price: 800€
Estimate: 1000-1200€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€

Russian silver stopa / charka, Kostroma, 1769–1813, 18th–early 19th century. Of tapering cylindrical form, finely engraved and chased with bold scrolling ornament and cartouches enclosing stylized birds and foliate motifs. Gilt interior.

Height: 7.6 cm
Weight: 68.2 g

Starting price: 800€
Estimate: 1000-1200€
Hammer Price: €

A Russian porcelain figure modeled after the famous monument Millennium of Russia in the city of Novgorod. The inscription on the base reads: Tallinn Special Secondary Police School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Executive Committee. November 30, 1974. Maker’s mark: Bronnitsi Manufactory (Proletary factory).
Dimensions: 27 x 18 cm.

The Proletary Porcelain Factory, located near Novgorod, is best known for its porcelain tableware. Aimed primarily at the mass consumer, the factory’s artists created simple, elegant forms that combined well with a variety of decorative styles. Gift pieces were hand-painted, often with large, vibrant floral compositions arranged in bouquets or garlands. The painting was done in bold brushstrokes, and sometimes the ornament covered the entire surface of the item.

The history of Proletary dates back to the 19th century, when it was originally known as the Bronnitsi Porcelain Factory.

Starting price: 20€
Estimate: 50-100€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€

A Fabergé silver-gilt beaker in the 18th-century taste.
St. Petersburg, firm of Fabergé, workshop of Stefan Wakeva, late 19th century.
Silver, gilding; raised and chased decoration.
Height: 7.5 cm
Diameter: 6 cm
Weight: 145.2 g
Marks: Fabergé beneath the Imperial warrant, maker’s mark of Stefan Wakeva , 84 standard silver mark, and St. Petersburg assay mark.
A finely worked silver beaker of tapering cylindrical form, the interior richly gilt and the exterior ornamented in high relief with an elaborate composition in the Rococo Revival manner, consciously evoking eighteenth-century decorative models. The body is encircled by asymmetrical scrolling foliate forms, shell-like motifs and stylised floral sprays, among which appear pairs of confronted birds and a smaller bird perched amid luxuriant rocaille ornament.
The maker, Stefan Erikovich Wakeva (1833-1910), a Finnish-born silversmith, was among the accomplished Capital’s mastets who executed works for the Fabergé firm. Established in St. Petersburg from a young age, he became a master craftsman in 1856 and was later noted as a chaser of silver. In 1882, while working for the firm of the heirs of Sazikov, he was recommended for distinction at the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition as an exceptionally skilled and diligent master. By the 1890s he maintained his own workshop on 5th Rozhdestvenskaya Street and fulfilled commissions for Fabergé, contributing to the high standard of silver production associated with the firm.

Starting price: 1200€
Estimate: 1500-1700€
Hammer Price: €

A Russian porcelain plate designed by Elisaveta (Elizabeth) Bem (Böhm), decorated with a proverb:
“I’ll sit down at the table and think about how I should live, how I should be lonely.”
Maker’s mark: Kornilov Manufactory, St. Petersburg.
Date: late 19th – early 20th century.
Diameter: 24.8 cm.

Elisaveta Merkuryevna Bem (1843–1914) was a Russian artist and illustrator, born into an old noble family of Tatar origin. She studied at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in St. Petersburg and graduated with a silver medal in 1864.

Bem became widely known for her silhouette albums — “Silhouettes” (1875) and “Silhouettes from Children’s Life” (1877) — and later for her illustrations of Russian folk proverbs and sayings. She collaborated with prominent publishers, including Posrednik (at the invitation of Leo Tolstoy) and I.D. Sytin, creating drawings full of warmth, humor, and insight into everyday life.

In the 1890s she began designing patterns for glassware and porcelain, achieving success at major exhibitions — including the World’s Fair in Chicago (1893) and the All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod (1896).

Her works were highly regarded both in Russia and abroad, receiving medals at international exhibitions in Paris (1900), Munich (1902), and Milan (1906). Bem’s art is admired for its lyrical simplicity and deep empathy toward common people and children, often expressed through moral reflections and folk wisdom — as seen in this plate’s design.

Starting price: 200€
Estimate: 250-350€
Hammer Price: 250€

A Russian porcelain “hooligan” ashtray, made at a private porcelain manufactory in the second half of the 19th century.
Dimensions: 7.5 x 13 x 10 cm.

This humorous and somewhat risqué piece depicts a young woman who has fallen backward into an oversized pink shell, her legs playfully visible in the air. Such figurines, often called “hooligan” or “frivolous” porcelain, were produced in small workshops for private clients, contrasting sharply with the more formal and academic porcelain of major factories like Gardner or Kuznetsov.

These objects were popular in the late 19th century among collectors and members of the urban bourgeoisie for their satirical, playful, and sometimes erotic themes.

Starting price: 600€
Estimate: 800-1000€
Hammer Price: 600€

A set of four Russian silver shot glasses by the Grachev Brothers, each with gilt interior and engraved crowned AK monogram, 84 zolotnik standard.
Height: 5 cm each
Total weight: 171.8 g

Starting price: 500€
Estimate: 600-800€
Hammer Price: €

Large Qajar Underglaze-Painted Vase

Persia (Iran), Qajar dynasty, 19th century
Pottery (earthenware), polychrome underglaze painting with transparent glaze
Dimensions: height 50 cm
Marks: inventory number “2660” to base

Tall piriform vase on a short foot, with a wide neck and everted rim; four strap handles join the shoulder to the neck. The body is richly painted under the glaze in cobalt blue, manganese, green and touches of yellow: scrolling foliate vines with rosettes and composite blossoms cover the main field, framed by floral bands at the shoulder and foot. Small cartouches punctuate the design, all outlined in dark slip to sharpen the detail.
The dense floral scrolls and deep cobalt ground are characteristic of Qajar ceramics, which revived earlier Safavid ornamental schemes while adopting a brighter, more graphic palette for large display pieces like this well-balanced example.

Starting price: 400€
Estimate: 600-800€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€

Russian silver trompe-l’oeil beaker / cup holder, St Petersburg, 84 zolotnik standard. Modelled in the form of a woven basket with twisted handle, the body cast in a basket-weave pattern. Marked 84 and with maker’s initials HC.

Height: 4.3 cm
Weight: 32.6 g

Starting price: 100€
Estimate: 150-200€
Hammer Price: €

A pair of Russian porcelain vases with floral and botanical decoration, produced by the Gardner Manufactory, Verbilki, circa 1870.
Height: 37 cm.

Each vase is crafted in elegant baluster form with a scalloped, openwork rim edged in gilding. The body is covered in a deep cobalt blue glaze, against which raised white and gold relief decorations of oak leaves, acorns, and intertwining branches stand out vividly.
The Gardner Porcelain Factory, founded in 1754 by Francis Gardner, an Englishman working in Russia, became one of the most renowned manufactories of the Empire. Over two centuries it produced masterpieces of porcelain art that graced imperial palaces and aristocratic collections across Europe.

Famous for its custom-made services featuring family coats of arms, crowns, and monograms, the factory received special recognition from Empress Catherine II in 1785, who granted it the right to use the Moscow coat of arms on its mark. Later, in 1855, it earned the right to bear the Imperial State Emblem of Russia, a distinction given only to the finest manufactories of the period.

These vases exemplify the refinement, craftsmanship, and artistic sophistication of Gardner porcelain in the high historicist style popular during the reign of Alexander II.

Starting price: 800€
Estimate: 1000-1200€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€

Russian silver charka, Moscow, 1891, 84 zolotnik standard, K.F mean Fabergé mark. Raised on a circular foot, with scroll handle and engraved floral decoration. Marked 84, Moscow assay year 1891.

Height: 7.3 cm
Weight: 37 g

Starting price: 250€
Estimate: 300-400€
Hammer Price: €