#Exhibit of the Month

The history of silverware goes back over 5,000 years, but only in the 3rd millennium BC, in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, the first pieces of processed silver were made. From there, the art of working with silver spread to Persia and to Europe, where already in Roman and Greek antiquity it reached a high level of skill. Many of the techniques used then, such as casting, embossing and engraving, are still used today.

The National Museum of History of Moldova possesses a rich collection of silver items, which in a special way reflects the everyday life of people of the 18th-20th centuries. The typological range of objects that make up the collection includes both secular and ecclesiastical silverware: fruit vases, bonbonnieres, cutlery, tea and coffee preparation and serving sets, salt-cellars, handbags, snuffboxes and cigarette cases, candelabra, as well as icon cases, chalices, pectoral crosses, candlesticks, and so on.

Products of renowned jewelers, such as Fabergé, Khlebnikov, Sazikov in Russia, Elkington in England, Christofle in France or Norblin and Fraget in Poland stand out for their special quality and luxury. A significant item in the museum's silverware collection is the teapot on a stand with a spirit lamp (bouillotte), made in the Christofle workshop in France.

The Christofle workshop was founded in Paris in 1830 by Charles Christofle. The workshop, which was the court supplier of the Emperor of France Napoleon III, the Emperor of Mexico and the Tsar of Russia, created decorative and household pieces of rare beauty. It was also highly appreciated by the Royal House of Romania, which granted the workshop a supplier patent. In 1842, Charles Christofle bought a patent for electroplating, a technique that involved first coating a metal base with copper and then with nickel and silver. It was this technique that allowed him to mass-produce silver tea sets, which were very popular at the time. Tea, brought to Europe in 1610 by the East India Company, was an expensive commodity that gradually gained popularity. The oldest preserved teapots, dating from the 1670s, were small. As tea gained popularity, larger teapots began to be produced, shaped to match the fashion of the time.

According to Christofle catalogs, the model was produced in 1868 and fascinates with its elegance and refinement. The teapot has a complex design including a pear-shaped container, the surface of which is ornamented with guilloché in the Louis XVI style of the late 1780s. In the upper and lower parts of the body it is decorated with a border with tulips on protrusions, and in the center, it has an escutcheon with an engraved double frame. The teapot is equipped with a folding basket-like handle decorated with triple rings, and a lid with a knob. There are two rivets on the teapot for attaching it to the stand. A spirit lamp with a straight handle and a device for lifting the wick is fixed in the middle of the stand. The item has the Christofle stamp and is made of nickel silver.

The teapot on a stand with a spirit lamp, made in the Christofle workshop, harmoniously combines the value of a unique object and a sample of a large industrial series.

Dimensions: H.: 43 cm; W.: 24 cm.

Virtual Tour

Publications

Journal „Tyragetia"

vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1

Two new hoards and several solitary finds of metal items of the Bronze Age - Early Hallstatt periods in the territory of Republic of Moldova

ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Станислав Церна, Денис Топал

Two new hoards and several solitary finds of metal items of the Bronze Age - Early Hallstatt periods in the territory of Republic of Moldova

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

The article publishes two new hoards and several solitary finds of bronze items from the Prut-Dniester interfluve. These finds can be dated the late Bronze Age and Early Hallstatt periods and relate to the Sabatinovka and Noua cultures, as well as to different early Hallstatt groups. Of special interest is the hoard from Brănești containing some types of items which until now were not known on the territories to the west from the Dniester. Also, remarkable is the structure of these two hoards, which may indicate a votive character of their deposition.

List of illustrations:

Fig. 1. Location of the hoards and solitary finds: 1 - Dămășcani; 2 - Şaptebani; 3 - Telenești; 4 - Lupa-Recea; 5 - Seliște; 6 - Brănești; 7 - Hîncești; 8 - Costești; 9 - Lipoveni; 10 - Soroca district; 11 - Cantemir district; 12 - Rezeni.

Fig. 2. Solitary finds from the Prut-Dniester interfluve: 1 - Hâncești; 2, 6, 9, 11 - Republic of Moldova, exact location unknown; 3 - Telenești; 4 - Seliște; 5 - Dămășcani; 7 - Şaptebani; 8 - Lupa-Recea; 10 - Costești; 12 - Cantemir district; 13 - Soroca district; 14 - Rezeni.

Fig. 3. Hoard from Lipoveni.

Fig. 4. The hoard from Brănești. Drawings.

Fig. 5. The hoard from Brănești. Photographs.

Fig. 6. Distribution of analogies for some items from the Brănești hoard in the Northern Pontic area: a-c - socketed axes (a. hoards, b. casting moulds, c. solitary finds); d-f - spears of Keliberda type (d. hoards, e. casting moulds, f. solitary finds). 1 - Brănești; 2 - Kremenchug; 3 - Kapulovka; 4 - Crimea; 5 - Zlatopol'; 6 - Laski; 7 - Volgograd museum; 8 - Dnepropetrovsk region; 9 - Loboikovka; 10 - Kabakovo; 11 - Soldatovo; 12 - Keliberda; 13 - Leopol'; 14 - Ivan'kovichi; 15 - Gogolev; 16 - Rep'evka; 17 - Karmanovo (after: Дергачев 2011; Клочко 2006; Ушурелу 2010; Шарафутдинова 1982; Bočkarev, Leskov 1980; Leskov 1981).

Денис Топал

Scythian bronze cauldrons from the National Museum of History of Moldova

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIV [XXIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică, Chişinău, 2020

Denis Topal

Use of bronze in the producing of Early Scythian akinakai

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică Chișinău, 2015

Stanislav Țerna

Late Tripolian settlement near the village of Volovița (Soroca District, Republic of Moldova)

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

Денис Топал

Akinakai on the western frontiers of Scythia. Scythian swords and daggers from the territory of the Republic of Moldova

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică