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Lot Essay
Denis Ivanovich Chicherin (1720?-1785) was the governor of Siberia from 1763 to 1781, appointed by Empress Catherine II, who reigned from 1762 to 1796. Among his many accomplishments, Chicherin built a highway from Tobolsk to Irkutsk and provided Tobolsk with hospitals, schools and pharmacies.
Near the end of the eighteenth century, Tobolsk was the centre of niello work in Siberia, producing items 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 tea-pot, tea caddy, sugar bowl, and boxes with Siberian landscapes, maps, and plans of cities. A number of works were commissioned by Governor Chicherin and included his coat-of-arms.
For related beakers, see A. von Solodkoff, Russian Gold and Silver, Fribourg, 1981, no. 112, and S. Ia. Kovarskaia, Russian Silver of the Fourteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries from the Moscow Kremlin Reserves, Moscow, 1984, p. 115, no. 100.
Near the end of the eighteenth century, Tobolsk was the centre of niello work in Siberia, producing items 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 tea-pot, tea caddy, sugar bowl, and boxes with Siberian landscapes, maps, and plans of cities. A number of works were commissioned by Governor Chicherin and included his coat-of-arms.
For related beakers, see A. von Solodkoff, Russian Gold and Silver, Fribourg, 1981, no. 112, and S. Ia. Kovarskaia, Russian Silver of the Fourteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries from the Moscow Kremlin Reserves, Moscow, 1984, p. 115, no. 100.