Posey Holder

Manufacturer Pavel Akimov Ovchinnikov (Russian, 1853 - 1917)

Date1890-1892

OriginRussia

MediumSilver and enamel

Dimensions6 13/16 × 4 7/8 in. diameter (17.3 × 12.4 cm)

ClassificationsDecorative Arts, Metal

Credit LineGift of Ann and Henry Brunnier. In the Ann and Henry Brunnier Collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number4.14.14

Status

Not on view

Collections

Decorative Arts

CultureRussian

Label TextThe term, Old Russian enamels, represents a late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century revival of Russian artistic traditions. The wares from the workshops of Pavel Ovchinnikov and Fedor Rückert are considered the best Old Russian enamels by many scholars. Pavel Ovchinnikov’s highly esteemed reputation is based on his use of a wide variety of colors and his remarkable technical ability. He is credited as the first Russian enameler to revitalize traditional Russian enameling techniques and motifs, and as the first to introduce a number of European traditions to Russia. Ovchinnikov opened a firm in Moscow in 1853 and in St. Petersburg in 1873. Like Fabergé, Ovchinnikov employed many anonymous workers, perhaps as many as 300 or 400. He was awarded the Imperial Warrant as early as 1868, and a gold medal at the Paris World’s Fair in 1889. In 1898, his son Mikhail Pavelovskii took over the firm in St. Petersburg, and the factory remained in operation until 1916 or 1917. This posey holder is an object of much curiosity. It functions as a bouquet container, but can either be held by an individual (perhaps at a party or ball) or, if attached to its tripod, used as a vase. Shaped like a horn, a lily or perhaps a lotus, this object is decorated with repeated bands of Egyptian-style lotus blossoms.

MarkingsName of firm in cyrillic, 88 for silver standard, imperial warrant. See yellow sheet in file for ill.

Locations