A SMALL COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE SILVER
AND OBJECTS OF VERTU

an article of Giorgio Busetto - www.silvercollection.it
for ASCAS - Association of Small Collectors of Antique Silver
a small collection of antique silver and objects of vertu
 
 

HALLMARKS OF RUSSIAN SILVERSMITHS

The Russian standard for silver was based on ' zolotnik '. The name comes from 'zoloto' meaning gold. The unit originated as the weight of a gold coin of the same name which circulated as late as 11th century in Kievan Rus. Originally, a zolotnik represented a 1/96 of a pound, later 1/72 of a pound. In the metric system, one zolotnik equals 4,266 grams, 96 zolotniks equal one Russian pound.
Converting the Russian marks to sterling values, we obtain the following comparisons in silver purity degree:

84 zol. = 875/1000
88 zol. = 916,6/1000
91 zol. = 947,9/1000

Most of silversmith's touch marks are in cyrillic alphabet.
Here is the Russian cyrillic alphabet and the table of comparison with latin alphabet.

Russian cyrillic alphabet

cyrillic printed and cursive

roman

cyrillic name

a

ah

b

beh

v

vey

g

gey

d

dey

e

yey

ë

yaw

zh

zheh

z

zey

i

ee

ee kratkoye

k

kah

l

el

m

em

n

en

o

aw

p

pey

r

ehr

s

ess

t

tey

u

oo

f

ef

kh

khah

ts

tseh

ch

cheh

sh

shah

shch

shchah

"

myakhky znak

eh oborawtnoyeeh

yoo

yah

Russian silversmiths used a touch mark with the initial letters of first and last name in Cyrillic. Seldom full name or latin letters were used.

touch mark
(click for image)

silversmith


 
A? ?
A?Z ? (cyr.)
AA Andrei Karlovich Adler
AA (cyr.) Andrey Aleksandrov
AAK K.A. Al'derman
AB or AV cyr.
AB (cyr.) A. S. Bragin
AD (cyr.)
AE (cyr.)
AE (cyr.)
AFP (cyr.) Al'derman
AK (cyr. ?)
AK Antip Kuzmichev
AK (cyr. ?) Alexei Fyodorovich Kitovsky
AM (cyr.) A.Mukhin
AN (cyr.) Anders Navalinen
AP (cyr.)
AP (cyr.) Andrej Postnikov
AS (cyr.) A.Stepanov
AV (cyr.) A.Vassiliev
AVP (cyr.) A.Polozov
AVP and A?T (cyr.) A.Polozov and A?T
AWW (lat.)
AYa (cyr.) A. Yahainov
BMA (lat.)
BOLIN Bolin Wilhelm A.
CF (lat.)
ChO (cyr.)
CM or SM (cyr).
DI (cyr.) D. Izrayelich
CMS C.H. Stahle
EK Erik Kollin
FABERGE (cyr.) Karl Faberge
FABERGE (cyr.) Karl Faberge
FR (cyr.) Fedor Ruckert
FWS Wennestrom O.F.
GK (cyr.) Gustav Klingert
GO G.M. Okerblom
GRACHEV (cyr.) Grachev Br.
IA (cyr.)
IANTZEN C.A. Iantzen
IF (cyr) Ivan Futikin
IF (cyr)
IG (cyr.)
IG (cyr.)
IK (cyr.) Ivan Kaltikov
IKh (cyr.) Ivan Khlebnikovn
IKh (cyr.)
IR (cyr.) Ivan Raspopov
IZM (cyr.) Ivan Zinoviev Manilov
JR (lat,)
KhA...... (cyr.)
KHLEBNIKOV (cyr.)
KHLEBNIKOV (cyr.)
KLINGERT (cyr.) Gustav Klingert
KORDES Kordes
KS (cyr.) Konstantin Skvortsov
KV (cyr.) Karl Verlin
MG (cyr.)
MI (cyr.) Michael Isakov
MLSh (cyr.)
MM (cyr.) Mikhail Maslov
MP (cyr.) Michael Parkin for Faberge
MP (lat.)
MS (cyr.) Maria Semenova
MT Michael Jakovlevich Tarasov
M.V. TRI........ (cyr.) M.V. TRI......
NA (cyr.) Nikolai Vasilievich Alexeev
NB (cyr.)
NKh (cyr.)
NR (cyr.)
OM Olga Mukhina
OP (cyr.) Pavel Ovchinnikov
OWP (lat.)
PG (cyr.)
PJS (lat.)
PM Pyotr Milyukov
PN (cyr.)Prokofij Akim Nikitin
POSTNIKOV (cyr.) A.M. Postnikov
RM Richard Muller
SAMOSHIN (cyr.) E.Samoshin
SAZIKOV (cyr.) Sazikov
SF Samuel Filander
SKL (cyr.) S.K. Levin
SKP (cyr.)
SPI (cyr.)
SS (cyr.) S. Skripitsyn
SS (cyr.)
SW Stephen Wakeva
TI (cyr.) 1896-1908
VA (cyr.) XVIII cent.
VD (cyr.) Vasilij Dmtrev
VKhTM (cyr.) (All Russian Arts and Crafts Workshops)
VS (cyr.)
VZM (cyr.)
YaA (cyr.)
YaB (cyr.) Yakov Borisov
YaR (cyr.) Ya.M.Rozen
ZK (cyr.)
ZK (cyr.)
ZK for Morozov (cyr.)
ZN Zverev Nikolas Nikolajevich
1MA 1 Artel
2A 2 Artel
5A 5 Artel
11A 11 Artel
? ADLE  
?Z ?(cyr.)
this is an abstract from a wider study of Giorgio Busetto on Russian silver hallmarking (silversmiths, assayers, town marks), available on the web clicking here
Giorgio Busetto - © 2004 -
www.silvercollection.it
this article is published on website                               
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