A rare and refined example of Russian decorative art from the second half of the 19th century – a sweetmeat basket with a hinged handle, created in 1875 by the renowned Moscow silversmith Pavel Ovchinnikov, official Purveyor to the Imperial Court.
The rounded vessel with low neck and gently flaring body is adorned in the niello technique with a fully gilded interior. Its central decoration consists of two oval cartouches finely engraved with architectural panoramas of Moscow:
– one side presents the façade of the Grand Kremlin Palace and adjacent churches;
– the other depicts Red Square with the Nikolskaya Tower and Kremlin walls.
These engraved panoramas, exquisitely executed in niello, are framed by delicate vegetal ornamentation in the Neo-Russian style. The hinged handle is decorated with an engraved twisted motif that harmoniously completes the overall design. The object demonstrates artistic precision, cultural iconography and the highest level of technical craftsmanship characteristic of the Ovchinnikov workshop.
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SILVER Seller in Alpes-Maritimes, France
