A very rare Imperial silver Writing Set belonging to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna

ST. PETERSBURG, 1752, WITH LATER FRENCH IMPORT MARKS

Details

A very rare Imperial silver Writing Set belonging to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
St. Petersburg, 1752, with later French import marks
Shaped oblong, on four scroll feet the tray with ribbed rim with chased and engraved shell and scroll cornerpieces, with applied oblong pen-container with hinged cover, a square inkwell and sander, the former with knop detachable cover, the latter with floral and foliate openwork, and a circular nib-holder, all engraved with shell and foliate scrolls, and with a circle enclosing the crowned cypher of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the base engraved in Russian 'assayed 82 weight 1 funt 58 zolotniks 1752', marked on rim
7in. (17.8cm.) long
596 gr. gross

Sale room notice

The estimate should read £30,000-40,000.

Lot Essay

In correspondence with the owner in 1983, the well-known expert on Russian silver M.M. Postnikova-Loseva states that this writing set was made for the Empress on her express order with her cypher, and that, if it had been for presented to any-one, the cypher would have been erased.

More from The Provatoroff Collection

View All