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Lot Essay
The inscription commences 'By the Grace of God we the great Lord Tsars and Grand Princes Ioann Alekseevich and Petr Alekseevich of all Great, Little and White Russia Autocrats present this Kovsh' to the tax collector 'Ivan the son of Semen of the family of Afilimonov' for his faithful service.
The second Romanov tsar Aleksei died in 1676 and was succeeded by his elder son from his first marriage Feodor III. On the latter's death in 1682, the Zemskii Sobor proclaimed as co-tsars, under the regency of tsarevna Sofia Alekseevna, his feeble-minded brother Ivan and half-brother Peter. On reaching his majority in 1689 Peter, against the wishes of the regent whom he imprisoned in the Novodevichii Monastery, took power in his own hands. On the death of Ivan in 1696 he became the sole tsar of Russia, becoming known as Peter the Great and reigning until his death in 1725.
For an explanation and description of other presentation kovshi see Alexander von Solodkoff, Orfèvrerie russe du XVIIe au XIXe siècle, (Fribourg, 1981), pp.72-84; and also I.I. Pleshanova and L.D. Likhacheva, Old Russian decorative and applied Art in the Collection of the Russian Museum, (Leningrad, 1985), plates 71-72.
The second Romanov tsar Aleksei died in 1676 and was succeeded by his elder son from his first marriage Feodor III. On the latter's death in 1682, the Zemskii Sobor proclaimed as co-tsars, under the regency of tsarevna Sofia Alekseevna, his feeble-minded brother Ivan and half-brother Peter. On reaching his majority in 1689 Peter, against the wishes of the regent whom he imprisoned in the Novodevichii Monastery, took power in his own hands. On the death of Ivan in 1696 he became the sole tsar of Russia, becoming known as Peter the Great and reigning until his death in 1725.
For an explanation and description of other presentation kovshi see Alexander von Solodkoff, Orfèvrerie russe du XVIIe au XIXe siècle, (Fribourg, 1981), pp.72-84; and also I.I. Pleshanova and L.D. Likhacheva, Old Russian decorative and applied Art in the Collection of the Russian Museum, (Leningrad, 1985), plates 71-72.