Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Letter Stand
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Two streltsy guards wearing red tunics embroidered with pink flowers are portrayed on the front plate. They are positioned before an imposing portal and with their weapons, known as bardiches, crossed. The doors are closed with a heavy lock bearing a red wax seal adorned with the Russian double-headed eagle. The architectural surround consists of a pair of bulbous columns supporting an arch, all decorated with Usolsk-type blossoms in red, blue, orange, and green against a cream ground. Such columns were a feature of two recently erected Russian Revival buildings, the Imperial Museum of Russian History in Moscow (designed: 1872) and the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg (1883-1907).
The back plate is in openwork silver gilt with a design in the form of two phoenixes flanking a flowering tree. Bordering the pierced designs are pink blossoms over blue lozenges set on a greenish white ground. On the back plate's cross rail appear a pair of marine monsters in orange and green. A distinctive feature of the filigree decoration is the ample use of wires terminating in raised silver gilt, semi-spherical drops.
The stand's floor is patterned with blue, green, and orange tiles. One of this piece's unusual features is an electric fixture on the base of the stand with a cabochon garnet push. The stand is supported by four scrolled feet.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Leo Kaplan, New York; Jean M. Riddell, Washington, D.C., May 28, 1985, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2010, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2017-2018 | Fabergé and the Russian Crafts Tradition: An Empire's Legacy . The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 8/19/2015 | Treatment | Cleaned for exhibition |
| 8/19/2015 | Treatment | The silver and silver gilded structure and filigree wires were unevenly tarnished, changing the intended contrast and appearance of the decoration. The metal work was cleaned. |
Geographies
Russia, Moscow (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Overall H: 6 7/16 × W: 5 13/16 × D: 4 1/8 in. (16.4 × 14.8 × 10.5 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mrs. Jean M. Riddell, 2010
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
44.869