The full set with the original finial on the bratina cover, as designed by N.V. Sultanov and executed by Ovchinnikov, published in Architect in 1895

The design of the present bratina was submitted for consideration by the civil engineer N.V. Sultanov to Alexander III and executed by Ovchinnikov. An image of the set in full was published in the 1895 edition of Architect.

The design by Sultanov and another submitted to Alexander III for consideration (Yu.R.Nikolay Valdimirovich Sultanov, Portrait Architecture of the Historicism Era, St Petersburg, 2009, pp. 248-249)

EMPEROR ALEXANDER III, PUBLISHED BY MIKHAIL STASYULEVICH, 1885

Given the monumental scale and the excellence of craftsmanship behind this punchbowl and tray, it comes as no surprise that it was presented by the Emperor. The dedication around the punchbowl and on the tray specify that the recipients of this imperial gift were the sailors of the Battleship Sinop, which had begun construction that year. Bearing the date 1883, this set would have been one of the first few imperial presentation pieces awarded during Alexander's reign.

DETAIL SHOT OF THE REPOUSSÉ DEPICTION OF THE CITY OF SINOP

An Imperial Battleship: Sinop

RIGHT ELEVATION AND DECK PLAN OF THE BATTLESHIPS SINOP AND CHESMA, ILLUSTRATED BY F.K. BARNES IN BRASSEY'S NAVAL ANNUAL 1896

In the 1880s, the Imperial Russian Navy embarked on the building of a new Black Sea Fleet, commencing with the construction of the largest ships in the fleet, four Ekaterina II class battleships. The four ships were named: Sinop; Chesma; Ekaterina II; and Georgiy Pobedonosets.

These vast ships were unique in their design, owing to their main guns being positioned on three barbettes in triangle formation, which resulted in maximised firepower to drive the ships forward. The battleships were so large in size, in fact, that the shipyard of the Russian Steam Navigation Company in Sevastopol responsible for creating them had to be upgraded first in order to accommodate them. Construction was initiated in 1883 and took six years to complete.

One of these ships, the Sinop, was named after a Russian victory three decades earlier: the Battle of Sinop, 1853, between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

THE BATTLESHIP SINOP, AS DEPICTED IN AN 1893 LITHOGRAPH AFTER VASILY IGNATIUS'S THE IRONCLAD WARSHIP 'DVENADSAT APOSTOLOV' (1882)

References

A. Odom, Russian Silver in America: Surviving the Melting Pot, Washington D.C., 2011
A. Odom, A Taste for Splendor, Russian Imperial and European Treasures from the Hillwood Museum, Alexandria, Virginia, 1998

We are grateful to Svetlana Chestnykh for her assistance in researching this lot.