Russian style gem kovsh, I. Маршакъ

[Stirner]

Hello friends.
Bought it last month, look nice for me.
What do you think about this kovsh? Authentic?
Dimension 14*7*7.5 cm, weight about 160 gr.

[Goldstein]

Hi Stirner -

1) the famous firm of I. Marschak never made kovshi!
2) kovshi "garnished" with cabochons are always fakes!
3) the shown marks are wrong!

Here some Marschak made examples - please notice the quality!
Have a look at the authentic marks and the outstanding quality - he had shops in Kiev and Moscow.







Regards
Goldstein

[Ubaranda]

Hello!
I believe that the kovsh is authentic but in this case Marshak is seller. The maker's mark is under the mark of Marshak.
Regards.

[AG2012]

Hi,
Have the cabochons tested; semiprecious stones vs.glass.
First step with high magnification jewelers loupe;
1.tiny air bubbles in glass
2. inclusions (crystal inclusions, black spots,rough surface) and imperfections are always present in real semi precious stones versus uniform structure of glass (except for air bubbles)

Then more advanced testing depending on stones you have (moonstone and chrysoprase)
Маршакъ was known as Cartier of Kiev, so stones cannot be glass (regardless if maker or retailer).
They did experiment with Art Nouveau (стил модерн) and not always very successfully, though.

Is there any well documented kovsh by Маршакъ ? Always suspicious with ``great find ``at the fraction of real value if genuine.
Btw. transliteration of ``Ш``in his name: Marchak used in his French advertisement,Marshak in English or Marschak in German.

Regards

[Goldstein]

Hi -

as mentioned above I. Marschak was nicknamed "the Cartier of Kiev" due to his exceptional quality work!
Now just look at the different sized glass cabochons in primitive bezels / jewelery settings....and the very dubious punch.
There are enough examples of his work known - so just compare with this botch.



Regards
Goldstein