Russian Enamel Silver Punch Bowl and Ladle, ca.1890
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GUEST:
I brought in a punch bowl with a ladle I inherited from my mother. I've had it looked at several times. Nobody seems to know what it is. One of the problems is that the signage on the bottom has been very carefully struck out with an instrument. I did have an antique dealer look at it, and he seemed to think the reason that the signage was struck out was because it looks very much like a Fabergè bowl, but actually it isn't, and he thought maybe the merchandiser wanted to sell it as a Fabergè.
APPRAISER:
It is Russian enamel silver. We have wonderful kind of gilt silver form, and then this enameling is a glass paste that is heated between cloisons, so it's called cloisonnè, and the little wires that surround the enamel decoration are cloisons, so then it is Russian enamel cloisonnè. So let's just take a look at that mark that you addressed. Here. And we have, basically, the mark has been obliterated to a certain extent, but the 84-grade silver, Russian silver here, has not been obliterated. You have cabochon stone, silver working, and the gilding is maybe a little bit diminished. I mean, that can certainly be regilt over a period of time.
GUEST:
I polished it a bit.
APPRAISER:
Polished too often, yes, okay. That very well may be the case, that the sign was obliterated or the mark was obliterated to make people think that it was a Fabergè piece. Probably Fabergè the best known of the makers of this type of ware. This may have been made by a lesser maker. Ovchinnikov was a good maker that made bowls and ladles very similar to this quality.
GUEST:
What date would this be?
APPRAISER:
These are known as Czarist, because it predates the revolution. Very good likelihood this would be 1890. I think a good retail price on this would be $40,000
GUEST:
Retail?
APPRAISER:
Yes, retail.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER:
If this were an actual Fabergè piece, it would probably be worth $100,000 to $150,000.
GUEST:
You said 40...
APPRAISER:
Forty thousand dollars.
GUEST:
Hmm!
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
My goodness.
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