Russian Silver Candlesticks, St. Petersburg, 1866

Pair of silver candlesticks in rococo manner, made in St. Petersburg in 1866. Height 9 1/2 in. (24 cm). Weight 420 g (14,8 oz) and 426 g (15 oz). Fine condition.

Russian silver candlesticks from the Imperial era are infinitely rarer than their Western European counterparts. The vast majority were melted down during the Revolution, the Civil War and in the years of the Industrialization which followed. As electricity became increasingly accessible, silver candlesticks were considered bourgeois and useless, serving no functional role in the New Society (unlike cigarette cases, for instance) and were ruthlessly destroyed. Examples readily available today are usually provincial and fairly crude. Candlesticks from St. Petersburg rarely appear on the market, especially in pairs.

sold

The base and stem are stamped from sheet in three sections, chased and soldered together. The stem is filled with plaster.

Struck with St. Petersburg city mark, date '1866', assayer's initials of Vladimir Smirnov, 84 standard (.875 silver), and workmaster's initial 'CGE' for Carl Gustav Ekqvist (1800-1868) - a prominent St. Petersburg silversmith, in 1823 assistant, from 1830 master silversmith, occasionally produced objects for the Imperial family.

back