silver niello nib holder and letter opener - Russia
this silver niello nib holder and letter opener bears Kokoshnik marks used in Russia from 1908 -1926,
maker I.P. Prokofiev, who was a master in a silversmith's in a suburb of Moscow (Danilovska) from the
late 19th century until 1908.The nib is chased, nielloed and engraved with scrolls while the blade on the opposite side has a niello decoration with the word KAVKAZ (Caucasus) in cyrillic letters.
The production of nielloed objects of asiatic taste had a wide diffusion in Russia, particularly in the shape of belt buckles (see below an excellent example) and traditional caucasian or cossack daggers (kinjal or kama), while is uncommon for a nib (this is the first example I've seen).
The nib holder is 6 3/8 in. long (cm. 17,5) and was bought from a Canadian dealer through the Internet.
This item is not for sale, but most of my pieces were bought through the Internet. On the right bar of this page there are some links to silver and antique dealers websites
