posted 01-05-2007 04:12 PM            

This Forum sure is a silver-mine of information!

I have a question about the Russian "875" mark. I've searched the forums, but I believe it hasn't been asked before.

I have a Russian silver saltcellar with the following hallmarks:

Moscow, 1895, assayer Anatolii Artsibashev, and the make Kh.I (which I'm sure is not the Khlebnikov mark upside down), so far so good.

It's the tiny "875" mark (it's about 2mm in length) in the middle that I'm curious about.

I understand this is the Soviet-mark in use after 1958, but why would this little saltcellar have been assayed and stamped some 70 years after it was made?

Was that done to per-Revolutionary silver when it was sold on the open market (or through Beriozka-shops) in Soviet Russia, or was there another reason?

Also, the Hammer and Sickle is preceded by a Cyrillic L (an upside down V): is that a town-mark, and if so which town?

posted 01-05-2007 04:29 PM            

Fascinating! I am not aware of any Soviet practice requiring Tsarist silver to be remarked or whether this was even commonly done. I cannot, however, find any other explanation for the duplicate mark. The hammer and sickle within a star was introduced in 1958. The L is indeed the district mark, but I do not have a list of post 1958 districts. However, I am pretty sure it is not Moscow, so the piece was remarked in a different place than it was made.

It is also possible that the piece is a forgery improperly marked, but I am far from qualified to make that determination.

Historically, 1958 was a relatively relaxed period in the USSR following the death of Stalin in 1953, so I am puzzled as to why there would be any reason to remark this particular piece more than forty years after the revolution. Perhaps the piece had some special significance. Can you post a photo of the entire piece?

Blackstone is the really authority on continental silver, so I am anxious to read his post.

posted 01-05-2007 04:46 PM            

Fabergé-material it is not! It doesn't "feel" like a forgery, it's got "the spark of the real thing", and also bears a monogram and the Roman numerals XXV, so my feeling is it's an OK-piece.

This Soviet-875 double-marking is not a one off, as I've got another piece that has the same :

St Petersburg, 1896, maker Vasilli Kangin (?), properly marked everywhere (the handle, the spout etc.) and the Soviet 875-mark for before 1958...

posted 01-06-2007 06:39 AM            

1) silversmith MAA, assayer Ivan Lebedkin, Moscow, 1896-1908, re-marked in Latvia(?)

2) Moscow, 1893, re-marked in Latvia(?)

3) Moscow, end of 19th century, re-marked in Estonia(?)

4) silversmith ?S, Moscow, 1884, re-marked in Estonia (set of 6 spoons)

5) Silversmith AYa, Moscow, 1908-1917, re-marked in Latvia(?)

posted 01-15-2007 05:15 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by kerppola:

5) Silversmith AYa, Moscow, 1908-1917, re-marked in Latvia(?)

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Kerppola : Could your Silversmith "Aya" be Aleksandra Maksimovna Yagynova, as the mark looks a lot like P-L 2259, she worked from 1896 to 1908?

Back to the 875-mark: it's P-L 3952 (as you may have gathered I got the Postnikova-book now!), and upon very close inspection the inverted V could very well be the mark for Leningrad (a "lambda").

Which then poses the question: why would a silver item have to be remarked in the same country (okay, with different governments) some 60 years after it was born?

It would all make sense if it was a Latvian mark e.g. (different countries), but here it's the same country?

posted 01-15-2007 05:30 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by kerppola:

1) silversmith MAA, assayer Ivan Lebedkin, Moscow, 1896-1908, re-marked in Latvia(?)

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Kerppola: another one.
MAA (if indeed that is what the mark says, as it's pretty difficult to determine from the picture): Magrena Andreevia Andreeva, who worked from 1894 to 1908

JW

edit : P-L 2629