Imperial Russian Faberge Silver Crystal Kovsh Ladle-Eight Bogatyrs Knights c1880
Imperial Russian Faberge Silver Crystal Kovsh Ladle-Eight Bogatyrs Knights c1880. This product data sheet is originally written in English. This is ONE OF A KIDND antique Imperial Russian Faberge entirely hand made solid silver and hand cut crystal Kovsh ladle centerpiece, made by Faberge's head workmaster Julius Rappoport, St. This unique piece depicting a numerous Bogatyrs Knights in high relief with their weapons -some riding horses and going in to battle. The handle is chased in the Old Russian style. In the front you can recognize three of the most famous Bogatyrs- Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich. The Kovsh is very large-36cm long x 15cm width. The crystal is perfect-no cracks and chips.
The silver composition is also perfect, partially gold plated on the helmets, schields and banners. Hallmarked with Faberge's hallmark in Russian, with Julius Rappoport initials I.
With the Imperial warant eagle hallmark, and with gigh purity silver 88 stadart. It comes with a huge Karelian Birchwood presentation box signed in Russian : Faberge, St. A bogatyr is a stock character in medieval East Slavic legends, akin to a Western European knight-errant. Bogatyrs appear mainly in Rus' epic poems-bylinas.
Historically, they came into existence during the reign of Vladimir the Great (Grand Prince of Kiev from 980 to 1015) as part of his elite warriors (druzhina), akin to Knights of the Round Table. Tradition describes bogatyrs as warriors of immense strength, courage and bravery, rarely using magic while fighting enemies in order to maintain the "loosely based on historical fact" aspect of bylinas. They are characterized as having resounding voices, with patriotic and religious pursuits, defending Rus' from foreign enemies (especially nomadic Turkic steppe-peoples or Finno-Ugric tribes in the period prior to the Mongol invasions) and their religion. In modern Russian, the word bogatyr labels a courageous hero, an athlete or a physically strong man. The kovsh is a Russian ladle or drinking vessel that dates back thousands of years to the tenth century.In this era they were simple wooden products used to drink braga (a light beer), kvass (a brew fermented from black bread), and mead (a slightly alcoholic drink derived from honey). The avian shape of the kovsh emphasises the Russian affinity with nature. In Russian culture around this time ducks were seen as a link among the earthly, heavenly, and underground realms, since they live on the earth, fly in the sky, and swim in the water (which they believed led to the underworld). It was around the middle of the fourteenth century when the first metal models of the kovsh appeared.
In this period, the name kovsh was created for the vessel. Due to the variation in sizes, origin and uses, it is perhaps best to refer to the vessel as kovshi. Over the centuries there have even been different terms invented to refer to the diverse kovshi.
The larger kovshi, referred to as vynosny, were shared between dining companions, the smaller ones known as piti, were given to each guest as real glasses. The smaller, individual-sized kovshi were sometimes utilised as a ladle, used to pour out the drink from a larger kovsh.
For presentation purposes, the smaller kovshi used as ladles were often hooked on the side of the larger kovshi. Perhaps the most famous form of kovshi is the zhalovannye. This form of kovshi was popular around the eigthteenth century. The zhalovannye almost entirely lost their function as vessels and started to become made for decorative purposes.
They were frequently awarded as gifts from the Tsars to loyal supporters of the empire, often the zhalovannye would have been engraved with the recipients name on the side. An example of the gifting of a kovshi is Tsar Peter I the Great presenting to Frederick Augustus I of Saxony a beautiful kovshi made of gold and Niello, wonderfully decorated with pearls and sapphires. Although the kovsh suffered from a slight decline in the mid nineteenth century, there was a resurgence of the kovsh in the late nineteenth century as purely an ornamental object. Some of the famous Russian silver craftsmen including Ovchinnikov, Khlebnikov, Maria Semenova and also Fabergé created colourful examples of the kovshi, mostly decorated with cloisonné technique and further ornamented with precious stones, with the most varied shapes: viking boats, horses, birds. Today the kovsh can be what you make of it, whether that is as a vessel for drinking or a table ornament. Either way, anyone that looks upon a kovsh cannot deny its beauty! NOTE:PLEASE OBSERVE CAREFULLY THE PHOTOS! IT IS A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE DESCRIPTION. Every potencial defect which is shown in the photos, but not mention in the description, will be considered for described. All the photos shoot by professional Nikon 105 Macro lens under 40x diopter magnification, so you can explore even the smallest detail like under microscope! This item is in the category "Antiques\Silver\Solid Silver\Other Solid Silver". The seller is "riaerica2000" and is located in this country: BG. This item can be shipped worldwide.