Antique Imperial Russian

Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era

Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era
Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era

Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era

Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era. The marks on this case are the two Cyrillic letters which are the maker's initials. This is followed by the double-mark of assay-master, and date-mark stacked on top of each other.

In this case, the assay master is Veniamin Vasilyevich Savinsky, and the date of assay is 1879. The next mark along is [84], which refers to'84 Zolotnik', the Russian system of grading silver-purity.

A zolotnik was an old Russian coin. In this case,'84 Zolotnik' = 87.5% silver purity. The final mark is the assay-mark for the city of Moscow.

Cities with assay-halls existed throughout the Russian empire, including in Kiev in the Ukraine, and of course - St. Petersburg, where the famous House of Faberge, jewelers to the Romanov Court, had their headquarters. When it comes to antique silverware, there are many, many different types of decorating: Repousse, engraving, chasing, cloisonne, enameling. If you've never heard of niello ("n'yellow"), then that's probably not too surprising, since it's not really that common these days as a decorative technique.

Niello is a fine powder or paste made up of crushed sulphur and silver, with copper or in the past - lead - added to it. Ground into dust, the powder (or sometimes, paste) is applied to engraved decorations on a piece of silverware. The piece of silver, with the niello powder applied to it, is then heated. The powder softens, melts and runs into the grooves of the engraving or any other areas hollowed out by decorating tools. When it cools, the powder hardens and is baked onto the silver underneath.

It's like a crude form of enameling. After polishing, the applied niello turns a distinctive black or midnight-blue colour.

In this way, the decorated piece of silverware takes on a contrasting two-tone dark-light or'black-white' appearance, with the niello'd areas turning black or midnight-blue, and the non-applied areas. Note : the last photo is the silver test. We try to describe all items accurately and give good visual support through photographs and text. Please check all pictures; they are a major part of the description and best indication of condition. ITEM HAVE A SMALL DENTS.

Our goal is to satisfy the customer.


Imperial Russian 84 silver niello snuff or cigarette box Moscow 1879 Romanov-era