Live Auction 1528Russian Art
A PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L'OEIL MODEL OF A LOAF OF BREAD AND SALT THRONE
Lot 361 PROPERTY OF AN IMPORTANT SWISS COLLECTOR

A PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L'OEIL MODEL OF A LOAF OF BREAD AND SALT THRONE

MARKED SAZIKOV WITH THE IMPERIAL WARRANT, MOSCOW, 1876; THE SALT THRONE, MARK OF SAMSON STROGANOV, MOSCOW, 1873.

Closed2 June 2014

Price Realised

GBP 4,750

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A PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L'OEIL MODEL OF A LOAF OF BREAD AND SALT THRONE
MARKED SAZIKOV WITH THE IMPERIAL WARRANT, MOSCOW, 1876; THE SALT THRONE, MARK OF SAMSON STROGANOV, MOSCOW, 1873.
Circular, realistically cast and chased as a freshly baked loaf of bread, the base and under base engraved in Russian with dedicatory inscriptions ‘[To] Prince / Mikhail Ivanovich / Khilkov’ and ‘From colleagues / M.R.Zh.D / 1875-1880’ respectively, the circular hinged cover surmounted by a gilt salt throne, the cover of the salt throne inscribed with a Russian saying ‘Bez soli / bez khleba / polovina obeda’ ['Lunch without salt / and bread / is just half a meal'], marked under base, cover and under cover of the salt throne
3¾ in. (9.5 cm.) high

7.12 oz. (221.6 gr.) gross

Anonymous sale; Christie’s, Geneva, 11 November 1987, lot 62.
Acquired at the above sale by the father of the present owner.

Specialist note

Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Khilkov (1834-1909) was a Russian government official and Minister of Communications for the Russian Empire between 1895-1905. Notably, Khilkov served in the Semenovsky Regiment between 1853-1857 and supervised the construction of Trans-Caspian Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway. The inscription on the present salt throne probably refers to the period when Khilkov worked at the Moscow-Ryazan railway.