Russian fish forks - St Petersberg - maker?

Salisbury · Post by **Salisbury** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:08 pm

I believe these forks (155 mm long) to be from St Petersberg, assayer A. Riktera, but the maker's mark is a little unclear - the first letter is A, but the second is like a B with the 2 gaps filled in. Is this a Cyrillic letter, & can anyone identify the maker?

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Qrt.S · Post by **Qrt.S** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:54 am

The assayer is Aleksandr Vasilijevitsh Romanov in St Petersburg. He was the headworkmaster of the district. The existing of any A. Richter is doubtful today (Richtera is Russian genitive, expressing "Richter's"). The maker's mark is unfortunately too unclear.
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Salisbury · Post by **Salisbury** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:06 am

Thank you Qrt.S. I've had another look at the maker's mark, and although it is unclear in the photo it is a simple AB with the gaps in the B being filled.
A further question - the design of these fork handles is identical to the handles on the knives in one of my other questions, can I assume that they are all by the same company, Vladimir Morozov?
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Qrt.S · Post by **Qrt.S** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:44 am

Unfortunately I cannot find any Cyrillic AB (AV) or even Latin, Maybe somebody else can identify the master.

I wouldn't draw a conclusion that they are of Morozov production if there are no marks indicating that, not even if they are identical. They could be (later) copies made by whoever. Both the assayer and master marks are A and O in Russian silver.

I simply cannot avoid a comment regarding Russian marks in general. Please note that if you have a piece marked with only the assay office mark and no maker's mark, it is an officially to imperial Russia imported piece and marked in the Russian customs with ONLY the assay office marks. It indicates that the duty is paid but the piece is not produced in Russia. Its some times claimed that such pieces are Russian origin, but that is not the fact.
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