posted 03-05-2005 04:57 PM            

I mostly direct this posting to sazikov2000, whom I presume is Russian-speaking, as well as at least somewhat knowledgeable about Russian silver. But naturally, I welcome the comments or input of any member with knowledge of, or interest in, the matter.

Sometime ago, I came into possession of a pair of claret pitchers, post-1958, of .875 quality silver. They bear a mark of the hammer-and-sickle within a five-pointed star (post-1958 according to Tardy), to the right of which is "875" and to the left of which is "M" (an assay mark for Moscow, according to a smaller publication from the Gemological Institute of America). There is also a maker's mark in cyrillic, which to the best of my knowledge is the number 9, followed by M Yu Z. I have to assume the first character is a "9" as this looks like no Cyrillic character I recognize.

Since I do not know of any English-language publication which studies at length the silver marks of Russian makers, I just plugged the letters into a search engine and crossed my fingers. What came up is the website for a firm called Moskovskii Yuvelirnii Zavod (Moscow Jewelry Works). My skill with Russian is terrible, but I believe I was able to translate in the company history page that "using modern technology and equipment with traditional methods" permits the firm to create, among other things, "elegant pieces in gold and silver, luxurious objects in crystal..." Although no photographs were displayed of such pieces as these crystal and silver claret pitchers, that excerpt combined with the frequent mention of a mark of M Yu Z would seem corroborate the suspicion that Moscow Jewelry Works manufactured these pieces. Perhaps you might be able to verify that. And if so, what does the "9" mean?

In any event, even though I myself seldom deal much with silver from non-American makers, I would certainly like to have in my library the major books and publications cataloging at length the significant (or even lesser) silversmiths of various countries. If anyone knows, for example, if there exists a well-researched reference for Russian makers, as well any for other foreign makers, I'd definitely like to know about it. I might even consider acquiring such a book in the language of the country of origin, if no English-language translation is available. So, G-n Sazikov, if you know of a good book on the marks of Russian silversmiths, even in Russian, I'd love to hear about it.

posted 03-05-2005 05:46 PM            

The mark you mention is the maker´s mark of:

Moskovskij savod juvelirnych i metallitschjeskich isdelij

(as close as possible tranfered to Latin letters - nearly impossible!)
The translation: Moscow factory of jeweler and metall goods
This hallmark was edited by the government for this firm for the year 1960. The number 9 gives the exact date of manufacture = 1969

posted 03-05-2005 06:59 PM            

Sazikov2000