Enameled Silver Egg, Pavel Sazikov, Russian Imperial, 1870-1880

Enameled Silver Egg, Pavel Sazikov, Russian Imperial, 1870-1880
Probe 84, Left kokoshnik profile, which means it made before 1908; Length: 70 mm; Width: 51 mm; Weight: 91.2 g; Sazikov firm; The history: Moscow-Petersburg jewelry Sazikov firm was established in Moscow in 1793 by the owner of the silverware workshop, the merchant Pavel Fedorovich Sazikov. In 1810, he founded a factory that produced silverware and a shop for selling jewelry. After his death, by the end of the 1830’s his son Ignat Pavlovich (1793-1868) inherited it. Later, in the middle of the 19th century, he gained the fame of an outstanding jeweler. He consciously dedicated his life to his father’s business. He traveled abroad, where he studied the aspects of precious metal products’ manufacturing. Having headed the company, I. Sazikov not only introduced the labour specialization for the workers at the factory, that effected positively the quality and quantity of manufactured products, but was among the pioneers who organized a special department for studying various jewelry qualifications for 80 persons in Russia as well. He bought modern equipment and actively implemented Western technologies. He was the first in Russia to acquire a guilloche machine that was delivered from France in 1843. Ivan Sazikov invited famous sculptors and painters for the participation in his projects and creation of new models. Ivan Vitali, Peter Clodt von and Fedor Solntsev were among them. Constantly expanding the production, in 1842. Sazikov opened the firm branch in St. Petersburg. By the middle of the 19th century, the Company was considered one of the best in Russia, being the ancestor of the Russian style in the jewelry art. It was awarded with honorary diplomas, small and large gold medals of in the All-Russian Art Industrial Exhibition in 1835, 1849, 1853, 1861, 1865, as well as a large gold medal and the Honorary Legion Order for international exhibitions in London in 1851 and in 1867 in Paris. Ivan Sazikov won international acclaim, as well as the European orders. Small statuary works depicting the Russian national topics brought large-scale fame to it. Besides the basic jewelry techniques, such as chasing and casting, which were predominant, the masters used enamel, engraving and Niello. After Ivan Sazikov died in 1868, his sons inherited his business. Sergei (1823-1880) and Paul (1815-1877) worked in Moscow, Valentine (1830-1877) - in St. Petersburg. The Sazikovs’ shops and factories existed until 1887. Later Ivan Khlebnikov firm acquired them. Information about the jewelry firm is presented from the books: Postnikova-Loseva M.M., Platonova N.G., Ulyanova B.L. “Gold and silver business of the 15th-19th centuries. M., 1983; Skurlov V., Smorodinova G. “Faberge and Russian court jewelers”. M., 1992; Gilodo A.A. “Russian silver: the second half of the 19th century-early 20th century. From the collection of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative and Applied and Folk Art (Moscow). M., 1993