Stirrup cup in the form of a dog. Gilded interior.St.Peterburg 1861 by Samuel Arndt (born 1812 - died 1890). Workshop registered in 1849.
Assayer: Alexandar Nikolaveich Mitin (1842 — 1877). Seven and half cm. high. I could not post more than two pics (including that with hallmarks) and wanted this one with close up details; the lower part is simply a circular hollow gilded vessel.
An auction house in Geneva claims that he trained several masters who later worked for Faberge. Several stirrup cups by Samuel Arndt were sold at Sotheby’s London (boar, deer, rabbit, and horse) about 20 years ago, one in Geneva. It is most probable that he trained Julius Rappaport, too, who made similar animal figures in his workshop at Ekaterinskii Canal and also for Faberge. Still, they could not match their master - animal figures by Samuel Arndt are better executed than those made by his followers trained in his workshop. There is no doubt that nobody in Europe has ever made so beautiful animals either in silver or bronze - those made by Samuel Arndt are almost alive, just look at dog’s eyes and his fur. He used a very complicated technique known as lost-wax casting, called by the French name of ``cire perdue``. It is the process by which a bronze or silver sculpture is cast from an artist's sculpture.This means that there was a Russian sculptor who made it and S.Arndt did the casting. Unfortunately, we do not know his name so far. Another point: stirrup cups made in UK and elsewhere can be held in hand only when drinking from the saddle - a ceremony before the hunting practiced by the nobility. Those made by S.Arndt can stand upright because they were so designed to have three supporting points: two ears and the tip of the snout.
Ivan
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