IMPORTANT VERMEIL TEA AND COFFEE SERVICE BELONGING TO GRAND DUCHESS

A substantial silver tea and coffee service, hallmarked at 84 zolotniks (875‰), fully gilded, comprising a monumental hot-water fountain (samovar), a coffee pot, a teapot, a lidded sugar bowl, a milk jug, a tea strainer, a sugar tong and a large oval tray. In the Neoclassical style, the shaped pieces feature ovoid or baluster-shaped bodies resting on fluted pedestals, embellished with abundant chiselled, repoussé and applied decoration of water leaves, ovals, rows of pearls, foliage and generous garlands of fruit. The handles are spectacularly shaped as figures of Psyche with butterfly wings, whilst the knobs, spouts and fastenings are executed in the same exceptionally rich antique-style vocabulary, featuring grotesque mascarons, chimera heads and lion’s-paw feet. The main pieces are engraved on one side with the intertwined Cyrillic initials ОН of Olga Nikolaevna, placed beneath the imperial crown, and on the opposite side with the imperial double-headed eagle of Russia. The tray is monogrammed only; the tea strainer and sugar tongs bear no monogram. Silversmiths Carl Johann Tegelsten (1798–1852) and Henrik August Lång (1797–1882), for Nicholls & Plincke. Imperial Russia, Saint Petersburg, 1840 – Hot-water dispenser (samovar): St Petersburg city hallmark; assayer’s mark of Dmitri Ilyich Tverskoy and date 1840; fineness 84 zolotniks; silversmith’s mark of Carl Johann Tegelsten. Signed “TEGELSTEN” in full beneath the removable embers tray. Height: 57 cm – Width: 31.5 cm – Approximate gross weight: 8,000 g. – Coffee pot: St Petersburg, hallmark of the assayer Dmitri Ilyich Tverskoy and dated 1840, 84 zolotniks; hallmark of the silversmith Carl Johann Tegelsten. Height: 34 cm – Gross weight: 2,108 g. – Teapot: Same hallmarks. Height: 16.5 cm – Gross weight: 1,526 g. – Lidded sugar bowl: Same hallmarks. Height: 15 cm. – Net weight: 1,292 g. – Milk jug: Same hallmarks. Height: 17 cm – Net weight: 465 g. – Tea strainer: Same hallmarks. Length: 18 cm – Net weight: 177 g. – Sugar tongs (damaged): Same hallmarks. Length: 16 cm – Net weight: 200 g. – Large oval tray: Saint Petersburg; hallmark of the assayer Dmitri Ilyich Tverskoy and date 18(40); fineness 84 zolotniks; hallmark of the silversmith Henrik August Lång and N&P mark of Nicholls & Plincke. Engraved on the reverse with ‘No. 50’. Width: 74 cm – Depth: 44 cm – Approximate net weight: 4,000 g. Approximate gross weight: 17,768 g. (Minor visible damage and missing sections, occasional wear and deformation; the sugar tongs are broken into three pieces.)

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