Silver and niello 9-piece tea-set, comprising tea-pot, hot-water pot, creamer, sugar bowl with lid and tongs, cake-basket, strainer, lemon-fork and sugar-shovel. Each piece is decorated with swirling foliage, a crescent and a flower-head. Silver tea set with main pieces of rectangular form with corners cut at 45 degrees angles. Lids of teapot, coffee pot, and sugar basket with mother-of-pearl knobs. Contained in a large original oak fitted hinged lockable case, lined with dark blue velvet and satin, with retailer’s stamp ‘Trading House D. P. M. Frolov, established in 1788’. The Frolov Brothers were one of the major retailers and workshops in Moscow. The lid is applied with a brass plaque inscribed in English: ‘From Captain and Officers of the USS St. Louis’.
Russian Silver & Niello Tea Set
Frolov Brothersreference number: RS_008
circa 1896
nielloed silver
length of the basket: 22.8 cm; total weight: 2784 gr
maker’s mark: Latin initials S.L. of unidentified master
assay master’s mark: Cyrillic initials L.O. of Lev Oleks
assay mark of Moscow 1896
silver standard: 84 zolotnik
contained in original fitted case