Live Auction 15499Russian Art
A LARGE GEM-SET SILVER KOVSH
Lot 326

A LARGE GEM-SET SILVER KOVSH

MARKED O. KURLIUKOV, MOSCOW, 1908-1917

Closed4 June 2018

Price Realised

GBP 25,000

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A LARGE GEM-SET SILVER KOVSH
MARKED O. KURLIUKOV, MOSCOW, 1908-1917
Of traditional form, the spout realistically cast and chased as a gusli player, wearing traditional Russian costume, the body repoussé and chased with foliate scrolls, the angular handle chased with scales and scrolls, set with cabochon garnets and turquoise, also applied with a crowned cypher 'W', marked under base and on handle, also with import marks
15¾ in. (40 cm.) wide
42.3 oz. (1,316 gr.) gross

Specialist note

The present kovsh embodies the distinctive neo-Russian style, which saw a rebirth in the early twentieth century. The revival of traditional Russian subject matter and technique is reflected in the form of this kovsh, as well as its ornament. The finely chased figure of a gusli player is reminiscent of the fictional bard Boyan from the twelfth-century Russian epic poem The Song of Igor's Campaign ['Slovo o Polku Igoreve']. The present kovsh's iconography could also refer to the medieval story of Sadko, the merchant and gusli player of Novgorod and his adventures in the realm of the Sea King. The story was famously set to music by the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) in the opera Sadko, which premiered in Moscow in 1898.