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Lot Essay
Tobolsk was founded in the late sixteenth century by Yermak and his Cossack troops during the first Russian advance into Siberia. Located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers, the city became prosperous through trade with China and Bukhara. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, Tobolsk was the seat of the governor of Siberia, Denis Ivanovich Chicherin (1720?-1785), who was appointed by Empress Catherine II. Among his accomplishments, Chicherin provided Tobolsk with such public services as a hospital, pharmacy and trade schools for exiles, and he built a highway from Tobolsk to Irkutsk.
Near the end of the eighteenth century, Tobolsk was the centre of niello work in Siberia, producing works of unparalleled quality that influenced production in other Siberian cities (M.M. Postnikova-Loseva, et al., Russkoe Chernevoe Iskusstvo, Moscow, 1972, p. 18). Examples include a number of works commissioned by Governor Chicherin with his coat-of-arms, works with Siberian landscapes and maps, and plans of cities, such as the present snuff-box. This snuff-box is presumably one of a series of snuff-boxes depicting plans of Tobolsk and other Siberian cities. Other nearly identical examples are known. One such example, produced in Tobolsk during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, is in the collection of the State Historical Museum, Moscow. The State Historical Museum box features the portrait of D.I. Chicherin inside the cover. Another similar example was sold Christie's, Geneva, 16 November 1994, lot 324.
Near the end of the eighteenth century, Tobolsk was the centre of niello work in Siberia, producing works of unparalleled quality that influenced production in other Siberian cities (M.M. Postnikova-Loseva, et al., Russkoe Chernevoe Iskusstvo, Moscow, 1972, p. 18). Examples include a number of works commissioned by Governor Chicherin with his coat-of-arms, works with Siberian landscapes and maps, and plans of cities, such as the present snuff-box. This snuff-box is presumably one of a series of snuff-boxes depicting plans of Tobolsk and other Siberian cities. Other nearly identical examples are known. One such example, produced in Tobolsk during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, is in the collection of the State Historical Museum, Moscow. The State Historical Museum box features the portrait of D.I. Chicherin inside the cover. Another similar example was sold Christie's, Geneva, 16 November 1994, lot 324.