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RUSSIAN SILVER STANDARD MARKS (ZOLOTNIKS)

GUIDE TO THE RUSSIAN SILVER STANDARDS IN THE XIX. AND IN THE BEGINNING OF THE XX. CENTURY

The Russian silver standards in general use at the XIX. century and at the beginning of the XX. century were reckoned in zolotniks. These would show the purity of the precious metal. Metal purity was measured in zolotniks. 96 zolotniks correspond to pure silver. The most frequently found proportions for silver are 84 and 88 zolotniks. The one of the rares is the 91 zolotnik mark often help to identify objects made for export. The corresponding standards in the west are 875, 916 and 947/1000, while English sterling silver presupposes a standard of at least 925/1000. There would also be a stamp of the city or region of origin. These were in use till 1899. For St. Petersburg, the symbol was crossed anchors and for Moscow, St. George and the Dragon. In 1896, Czar Nicholas II 's reign saw a shift from localized marks to a national provenance mark, a woman wearing a kokoshnik.

Some examples for silver zolotnik marks until 1899:
- zolotnik 84 for silver with the city of St.Petersburg.
- zolotnik 88 for silver with the city of Moscow.


Some examples for silver zolotnik marks between 1899-1908:
on these marks the kokoshnik facing left. This mark shows the head of a girl in profile, wearing the traditional Russian high headdress called kokshnik. The origin of each piece can be recognized by the assay-master's initials behind the head.

- zolotnik 84 for silver with the assayer mark of Ivan Lebedkin (I.L.) which refers to Moscow.

- zolotnik 84 for silver with the assayer mark of Yakova Ljapunova (Ya L) or with the assayer Alexandra Vasiljevicha Romanova (AP) which refer to St.Petersburg.


Some examples for silver zolotnik marks between 1908-1926:
kokoshnik mark facing right. The head initials no longer seem engraved but appear in relief. The origin of each piece can be recognized by a Greek letter within the mark.

- zolotnik 84, kokshnik facing right, alfa letter for St.Petersburg. Under there is a small circular kokshnik mark is found on objects weighting less than 8.5 grams (2 zolotniks) or on separate parts.

Some greek letters for the city in the assayer mark between 1908-1926:
- St.Petersburg
- Moscow
- Odessa
- Kiev


References : The Russian state marks in the XIX. century

THE HISTORY OF THE FABERGÉ (TIMELINE)

FABERGÉ'S HISTORY IN TIMELINE

1685: The Huguenot (= puritan protestant) Fabergé family flees Catholic France and settles in Germany to escape religious persecution after the Edict of Nantes is revoked.
1800: the carpenter Peter Fabergé (father of Gustav Fabergé) immigrates to the Baltic province of Livonia and becomes a Russian citizen.
1814: Gustav Fabergé, son of Peter Fabergé and father of the famous Karl Fabergé, is born.
1830s: Gustav Fabergé goes to St. Petersburg and learns goldsmithing under Master Andreas Ferdinand Spiegel.
1842: Gustav Fabergé opens a jewelry shop at Bolschaya Morskaya Street in St. Petersburg.
1846: Peter Karl Fabergé is born in St. Petersburg.
1860: Gustav Fabergé retires to Dresden, Germany and Carl Fabergé becomes an apprentice to the jeweler Friedmann in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The Fabergé business in Russia continues to grow under the auspices of Peter Hiskias Pendin, Gustav Fabergé's partner.
1861-1865: Karl Fabergé trains to goldsmith in a four year apprenticeship in Europe.
1862: Karl Fabergé's brother, Agathon, is born.
1865: Karl Fabergé returns to St. Petersburg and enters his father's firm.
1872: Karl Fabergé marries Augusta Julia Jakobs and takes over his father's business.
1874: Karl's first son, Evgeny Fabergé, is born.
Fabergé is mentioned in the lists of the Imperial Cabinet for the first time.
1876: Agathon, Carl Fabergé's second son, is born.
1877: Alexander, Karl Fabergé's third son, is born.
1881: Czar Alexander II is assassinated in a bombing by revolutionaries. Czar Alexander III is crowned.
1882: The House of Fabergé wins gold medal at the Pan-Russian Exhibition in Moscow and is "discovered" by Alexander III and Maria. Gustav Fabergé's former partner, Peter Hiskias Pendin, dies. Agathon, Carl Fabergé's younger brother, joins the Fabergé firm.
1884: Mikhail Perkhin joins the Fabergé firm and later becomes head workmaster. Nicholas, Karl Fabergé's fourth son, is born.
1885: Karl Fabergé is named "Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty," and Czar Alexander III orders the first Imperial Easter egg for his wife Maria.
The Fabergé company is awarded a gold medal at the Nuremburg Exhibition for its superb reproductions of the gold Scythian treasures which had only recently been unearthed in Russia.
1886: Karl opens a Moscow branch of the House of Fabergé.
1887: Fabergé's first branch office is opened, in Moscow.
1888: The company receives a special diploma at the Northern Exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1890: The St. Petersburg branch of the House of Fabergé doubles in size; another branch is opened in Odessa in Southern Russia.
1894 - Karl Fabergé's son, Eugene, joins the firm.
1894 November: Czar Alexander III dies.
1894 December: Nicholas II marries German Princess Alix von Hesse (Alexandra Fyodorovna).
1895: Nicholas dismisses a call for constitutional reform in a speech that is cited as the provocation for the founding of the Russian Social Democratic Workers party that would become the driving force behind the revolution.
Karl's brother Agathon dies; Karl's son Agathon enters the firm.
Grand Duchess Olga (first daughter) is born to Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra.
1896 May 26: Coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra.
1896 May 30: Over a thousand people are trampled to death at Khodynka Meadow during the coronation festivities.
1896: Leon Trotsky begins political activity. The House of Fabergé receives the State Emblem at the Pan-Russian Exhibition in Nijny-Novgorod.
1897: Grand Duchess Tatiana (second daughter) is born to Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra. At the Nordic Exhibition in Stockholm, Sweden, Karl Fabergé is appointed "Goldsmith to the Court of the King of Sweden and Norway".
1898: Karl Fabergé begins renovating the premises at 24 Bolshaya Morskaya Street, which opens for the first time in 1900.
1899: Grand Duchess Marie (third daughter) is born to Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra.
1900: Fabergé publicly displays some of the Imperial Easter eggs and other miniatures for first time at the Paris Exposition Universelle. He is awarded a Gold Medal. Karl Fabergé is appointed as a master of the Parisian Goldsmiths' Guild and is presented with the Cross of the Legion d'Honneur. Fabergé's St. Petersburg headquarters once again moves to an even larger building.
1901: The Odessa branch of the House of Fabergé is opened.
Grand Duchess Anastasia (fourth daughter) is born to Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra.
1902: Alexandra organizes a charity exhibition of Imperial eggs to benefit the Imperial Women's Patriotic Society Schools. It is the first public showing of the eggs in Russia.
1903: A branch of the House of Fabergé is opened in London, England, the only foreign shop. The 200th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg is celebrated.
1904: Japan attacks the Russian naval base at Port Arthur leading to the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). The Russian navy and army suffer terrible defeats. Czarevich Alexei (heir to the throne) is born to Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra. Carl Fabergé's fame has spread to even southeast Asia and he is personally invited to the court of King Maha Chulongkorn of Siam.
1905 January 22: Massacre of Bloody Sunday. Czar Nicholas reluctantly assents to constitutional monarchy. Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich is killed by terrorists in the Kremlin. The Kiev branch of the House of Fabergé is established.
1906: Czar Nicholas calls into session the first State Duma.
1910: Fabergé's Kiev branch is closed down because it is thought of superfluous in light of the already well established and older Odessa branch.
1913: The tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty is celebrated.
1914 August: Russia declares war on Germany and Austria (World War I). In the first five months Russia loses over a million men - killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The Fabergé firm is ordered to begin production of small arms for the front and dressing material for the wounded. Most items are made of copper or gunmetal in order to conserve precious metals and are only stamped with the Russian Imperial Eagle and "1914 War".
1915: The Fabergé workshops begin to produce war supplies. The London branch is closed due to the raging European war.
1916: The House of Fabergé is converted to a joint stock company.
1917 February: The Spring revolution overthrows the imperial monarchy.
1917 March 15: Nicholas II abdicates. He and his family are placed under house arrest.
1917 October: The October Revolution (or Bolshevik Revolution) is organized by the Bolshevik Party against the provisional government. The Bolshevik Soviet Republic is proclaimed. To prevent further looting, Imperial treasures, including many Fabergé eggs, are confiscated and taken to the Moscow Kremlin Armoury. The Fabergé company is temporarily closed at the beginning of the Revolution.
1918 : The Bolsheviks nationalize the Fabergé firm and soon it closes permanently. Carl Fabergé and his family, with the exception of Agathon,escapes from communist Russia, with the help of the British Embassy, to France with his wife, Augusta. The Czar and his family are assassinated at Ekaterinburg.
1919 April: The Dowager Empress Maria is evacuated from Yalta to England.
1920 September: Carl Fabergé dies in Lausanne,Switzerland.
Carl Fabergé dies.
1921: Agathon is released from prison to work on the Crown jewels under Soviet orders.
1928: Agathon escapes from Russia.
1930s: The Soviet government sells fourteen Imperial Eggs to foreign collectors.

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