Desktop notepad with the composition "Ivan Tsarevich and the Frog-Quacker"
Desktop notepad with the composition "Ivan Tsarevich and the Frog-Quacker"
Russia, Moscow
1908–1917
Silver, onyx, fabric; casting, stamping, chasing
4.3 x 9.8 x 18.8 cm
Marks. On the outer surface of the cover: the firm's mark – "О.КУРЛЮКОВЪ"; the "triple" hallmark of the Moscow District Assay Office of 1908–1917 – a woman's head in a kokoshnik turned to the right, with the fineness number "84" and the district code letter represented by the Greek letter "delta". On each "foot" to which the cover is attached: the firm's mark – "О.К"; the verification mark of the Moscow District Assay Office of 1908–1917 for small component parts.
The desktop notepad is of a rectangular shape, consisting of a hinged upper silver cover-plate mounted on a pedestal-stand made of light green ornamental stone with brownish-yellowish-white layered inclusions (onyx). The surface of the cover is decorated with a relief composition reproducing the graphic work by Ivan Bilibin "Ivan Tsarevich and the Frog-Quacker" (1899), which is an illustration for the Russian fairy tale "The Frog Tsarevna". Set against a forest landscape, Ivan Tsarevich is depicted full-length, wearing a hat, a belted caftan, and boots, holding a bow in his lowered left hand, and looking at the frog sitting in the grass and holding an arrow (bottom right corner). Above, vertically arranged in a chain along the right edge, there is a relief inscription: ИЦАРЕВИЧЪ. The decor of the notepad is executed in the Neo-Russian style.
20466/ДПИ