www.925-1000.com

The marks are unfortunately not authentic and thereby the item neither is authentic by the Gratchev brothers. Even the enamel work shows many indications of a fake item like enamel quality, twisted silver wire quality etc. I am sorry for that.

It was a normal procedure that imperial silver were remarked during the Soviet era when items were resold by commercial shops, pawn shops etc. In this case the remarking was made after 1958 when the hammer and sickle with a star mark was used. The photos are somewhat unclear to say were the dot is ...

Good to hear that you have seen these in the last 100 years fabricated copies/fakes before. I can also see you have an educated knowledge of the subject so I am sure you are able to recognize the questionable ones to be defined authentic or not.

I understand well if Sotheby's did make the decision ...

Here are similar types of fake egg pendants. These were produced just for touristic purposes with added fake marks to mislead. You should believe what you see, wishful thinking can easily mislead. I also need to add that the mark on the egg pendant shown by you is also wrong as the purity/city mark ...

The creamer is typical in its outlook for the rococo revival period. The marks have just been polished and deteriorated thoroughly during the years. The marks are the 84 purity mark, the St. Petersburg city mark, the assayers mark Pavel Mihailov with the year mark 1867 and the makers mark AA. He ...

Hi!

The enamel items are often tricky ones. If we compare the shown one to authentic ones there are several problematic issues like enamel quality work, silver wire quality work, unclear marks etc which was also already referred to. In these cases the wish for authenticity often goes past the facts ...

Hi!

Yes it seems they are the same two makers mark. The missing of the assayer, city and silver standard marks is probably because of a lower finesse of the silver content than the Russian standard contents.

Regards,
Juke

Hi!

Yes it is genuine. The decoration at the end of the spoon steam is one that Fabergé used in their cutlery and tableware items. It is in a high quality way implemented.

Regards,
Juke

Sorry not cyrillic 'E' but I meant cyrillic 'Z'.

There are very many possible candidates with makers mark 'AC' working in St.Petersburg in that time:
- Anders Johan Carlsson (1854-1885)
- Tamilon Sadnikov (1874)
- Alexander Andreevich Samoilov (1867-74)
- Alexander Svan (1867-74)
- Andrei Ferdinandovich Seppänen 1873-1908)
- Anton Sergeev (1874 ...

Hi!

Yes it is imitating the famous court supplier Hlebnikov's mark. The items quality, style and marks are all wrong.

Regards,
Juke

Unfortunately the second item shown is fake. There are several indications which clearly shows this:
- the quality is clearly not the quality of Ovchinnikov
- the twisted silver wire is a mess and is badly attached to the item (don't go in straight lines)
- the double headed eagle mark looks not to ...

I understand what you mean and how you are reasoning it. The first thing of course is to check that the items mark is corresponding to the correct masters mark, control mark and the city mark. It is also true that Gratchev had masters working for it during that period. However there is no indication ...

Yes the marks DEVS shows are also accurate and genuine.

I only had an example of the later Gratchev brothers mark from the 1908-17 period. How can you claim that the control mark on this one would not be a genuine one? It is one very clear control mark with exactly the '84' number as it should be ...

Here is an example of the Gratchev brothers mark.

Hi!

It is a fake. Also the claimed Gratchev brothers mark is clearly wrong. Typically all judaic style works are later copies and fakes.

Regards,
Juke

Hi!

Yes it is a genuine Ovchinnikov salt cellar. It is simple in design and form but made in a quality way. Many court suppliers made also more simple items for the bourgeois in addition to the high end luxury items for the nobility in the court.

Here is an example of a fake Ovchinnikov salt ...

Hi!

The assayer seems to be Jacov Lyapunov in St.Petersburg. The silversmith would thereby possibly be Vasily Alexandrovich Alexandrov.

I would vote it is authentic. The photo frame shows many signs of age and wear. The mark is only a bad punch but an authentic one.

Regards,
Juke

I agree. Even that in my mind the marks seems quite well done the craftsmanship of the item itself is more mediocre. The work on the enamel and the sharpness of the details like letters seems very plain and thereby not high quality. Fabergés trademark was their exquisite work on the item itself and ...

Thanks and excellent knowledge! The town mark stumbled me for it to be Norwegian.