Title: Two-handled Kovsh
Date: before 1899
Location: Russia, Moscow
Materials: silver-gilt, opaque and painted filigree enamel, amethysts, garnets, green chalcedony and carnelian 84 zolotniks
Dimensions: 23.3 x 74 x 35 cm
Accession Number: RUS 15
Other Notes:
The kovsh form, both single- and double-handed, was derived from the rustic drinking vessels made in northern Russia and Scandinavia of carved and painted wood. Two-handled kovshi often functioned as serving bowls. Another kovsh by Ovchinnikov, of similar form and decoration but of a later date (1908-17), is in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. In Norway, the goldsmiths Marius Hammer and David Andersen also produced vessels based upon these traditional forms, often made in plique à jour enamel.
Bibliography:
Haydn Williams, Enamels of the World: 1700-2000 The Khalili Collections, London 2009, cat. 258, p. 366.
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