Stands approx. 97 mm tall to the tip of the handle, 79 mm wide at the bottom rim. The artwork is a grapevine motif repeating itself twice around the skirt of the podstakannik.

The maker's mark on the bottom reads "1MK2" in Cyrillics. The "M" stands for "metal", as in non-precious metal, Melchior in this case. The "K" is the first letter of the name of the factory. This format of the mark was in use in the 1960s, hence the number "2" dates the item as made in 1962. The history of the factory goes back to 1919 when several small jewelry workshops pooled together their human a

Stands approx. 97 mm tall to the tip of the handle, 79 mm wide at the bottom rim. The artwork is a grapevine motif repeating itself twice around the skirt of the podstakannik.

The maker's mark on the bottom reads "1MK2" in Cyrillics. The "M" stands for "metal", as in non-precious metal, Melchior in this case. The "K" is the first letter of the name of the factory. This format of the mark was in use in the 1960s, hence the number "2" dates the item as made in 1962. The history of the factory goes back to 1919 when several small jewelry workshops pooled together their human and material resources for economic reasons and founded the factory in the village of Krasnoye-on-the-Volga, Kostroma Region. Over the years, it changed its name several times. In 1962 it was "Krasnoselskaya Jewelry Factory". Nowadays, it bears the name "Krasnoselsky Yuvelirprom" (the last word being the Russian abbreviation for "jewelry manufacturing") and is one of the largest Russian manufacturers of a wide assortment of jewelry and decorative items, podstakanniki among them.

In very good to excellent condition. The circumference of the bottom rim is slightly irregular due to a couple of shallow, almost imperceptible, indentations. The patina seen in our photos adds character but can be easily removed, if desired, by polishing or, better yet, by the old Russian folk recipe for cleaning Melchior. All you need to do is boil some eggs and then dunk the podstakannik in that water. Please note that it only works with Melchior and does not work with silver.

Please note: If you try to come up with a replacement glass liner, it should be made of tempered glass even though we urge you not to use this to drink from! We offer this strictly as a historic artifact (and dramatic stage prop for your dining room or study). We provide no warranty of its suitability for actually drinking hot beverages like tea or coffee. All we know is that it should look great sitting on a tray next to your antique family samovar.

Enjoy!
$110.00  Add to cart