Lot Essay
Vasilii Makarovich Persidskii, the recipient of the present kovsh, was the son of the first ataman of the Volzhskii Cossack voisko (later Ural Cossack Voisko), Makar Nikitich Persidskii. In 1771, he was awarded a gold medal by Empress Catherine II for his father's and his long-term services. Vasilii Persidskii was later appointed the ataman of the Voisko and, upon his father's death in 1773, was given his sword. He remained Vozhskii ataman as a Colonel until his retirement in 1780, when for his services, Persidskii was gifted 12,341 acres of land on the Ilovlya River.