Cigarette case
Cigarette case
Russia, Moscow
1908-1917
Egor Cheryatov gold and silverware factory
Silver; painting on biscuit, chasing, gilding
10.2 х 9.0 х 1.3 cm
Marks: "E.Ч", tee of Moscow District Assay office 1908-1917 with alloy "84"
Silver square cigarette case, gilded inside, with rounded corners, consists of two equal halves, connected by a hinge, with a snap shutter. The top lid is decorated with a relief composition in the Art Nouveau style, illustrating "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by Alexander Pushkin and depicting Prince Gvidon with his bow down, Princess Swan and vulture, killed by an arrow and sinking in the sea. The bottom cover is smooth and free of decor. The snap shutter button is decorated with green oval cabochon in smooth, bezel setting.
He, with lowered bow, looked on
As, with beak and wings, the swan,
Dealing ruthless blow on blow
On the cruel kite, her foe,
Sped its death, till finally
Lifeless it sank in the sea.
Then, in Russian accents, she
Murmured plain as plain could be:
"O, tsarevich, champion peerless,
My deliverer so fearless -
Grieve not that because of me
Your good shaft is in the sea;
That you'll have to fast three morrows -
This is but the least of sorrows.
Your kind deed I will repay -
I will serve you too, one day;
Tis no swan that you set free,
But a maiden charmed, you see;
Twas a wizard, not a kite...
Quotation from “The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan” by A.S. Pushkin
Инв.283/ДПИ