TWO PARCEL-GILT SILVER AND NIELLO BEAKERS

The subtle use of a black niello background in the form of delicate lacework, minute scrolls, foliage and dots on the present beaker is typical of seventeenth-century Russian niello work. The technique, called Turkish niello [turetskaya chern'], was originally used by Turkish silversmiths in the Kremlin workshops. Another example of a seventeenth-century beaker in the Turkish style was sold Christie's, London, 2 June 2014, lot 329.