Imperial – An Alexander II / III Russian 84 Zolotnik (875 standard) silver twin salt, Saint Petersburg by Friedrich-Emil Yegorovich Henricsen (active 1870-1890)

Each of baluster circular form with a central loop carrying handle of scrolling leaf form, all raised on four ball feet. Each side engraved with the imperial crown above the monogram MA. Gilt interiors. Marked underneath with dvoinik and incuse maker’s mark FEH.

Length – 11 cm / 4.5 inches

Weight – 185 grams / 5.95 ozt

The initials are for Maria Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1853-1920). The fifth child and only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. She was the younger sister of Alexander III of Russia and the paternal aunt of Russia’s last emperor, Nicholas II. In 1874, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna married Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; she was the first and only Romanov to marry into the British royal family. She became Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in August 1893. After World War I, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the duchy her husband and nephew had ruled, ceased to exist in November 1918. Maria Alexandrovna died in 1920 in exile in Switzerland living under reduced circumstances. Makers: Ivanov 980. Made tableware and unornamented articles for the Imperial Court. About 1890 he sold his workshop to A. Liubavian. Items from her flatware service are known in a fiddle and thread pattern, engraved with the same monogram. The firm made the dressing table set of Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960) aunt to the above, Sotheby’s New York, 14 October 2015, Lot 53 ($6,250 incl. premium).

Andrew Milne Collection

Царская cеребряная солонка, периода Александрa II / III-гo, 84-ой пробы серебра, Санкт-Петербург, мастер Фридрих-Эмиль Егорович Хенриксен (работал с 1870 г. по 1890 г.)