Kovsh

Object NameKovsh

Artist / Maker Fedor (Feodor) Ruckert (German - Russian, 1840 - 1917)

Manufacturer Fedor (Feodor) Ruckert (German - Russian, 1840 - 1917)

Date1896-1908

OriginRussia

MediumGilded silver and enamel, cabochon-cut carnelians and green jades

Dimensions2 9/16 × 3 15/16 × 6 5/16 in. with handle (6.5 × 10 × 16 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 number4.14.4

Status

Not on view

Collections

Decorative Arts

CultureRussian

Label TextFedor Rückert, a German born Muscovite, was the only Moscow workmaster whose mark appeared on Karl Fabergé pieces, a great honor and privilege. Scholars disagree as to why the marks on Rückert’s works vary. Objects have appeared with either or both masters’ marks. Most agree that Rückert had his own shop from which he sold wares independently. He also sold wares through Fabergé’s shop and subcontracted for Fabergé. Scholars know that Rückert began working for Fabergé in 1887 because he gave Fabergé a vase in 1912 commemorating their 25-year relationship. Rückert’s shop of 40 to 50 workers filled commissions for the imperial family. Often he combined traditional Russian and Art Nouveau motifs and forms. Frequently, Rückert innovatively used filigree scrolls as decorative elements on a monochromatic enamel ground rather than strictly as frameworks for the enamel. He also followed the Usolsk tradition of shading or painting the enamel in polychrome within the individual cells. The kovsh is an object that appealed greatly to the historicizing and political Old Russian trend. Originally, a kovsh was a wooden dipper or ladle in the form of a duck or goose whose head and neck comprised the handle. Metal kovshi (plural for kovsh) were first made in Russian in the mid-fourteenth century and used for ladles, containers and drinking vessels. Mead was the appropriate beverage to serve in a kovsh. This kovsh exemplifies Rückert’s loyalty to sixteenth and seventeenth century traditions of granulation and of encrusting the surface with inset semi-precious stones. In typical Rückert style, this kovsh is in pastel shades on a cream ground with voluptuous Art Nouveau-style motifs.

MarkingsAssay master: Ivan Lebedkin; marked on bottom, one lozenge=88 silver standard, Kokoshnik facing left indicates made between 1896-1908, the district's assayer's mark next to Kokoshnik's head. A rectangular mark with the signature of the maker, Fedor Ruckert.

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