Chess made of marble and silver "Samovars"
- Pickup from gallery: Set a route
- Courier delivery
- Delivery by a transport company in the shortest possible time
- VIP air delivery
- Delivery rates
A team of jewelers (head I.G. Skvortsov, the author of the idea) was inspired to create an exclusive set of Chess Samovars by M.M. Borshchev's unique collection of samovars and broths. This work is intended to illustrate the preservation and continuity of traditions in Russia, presented by modern patrons to society.
The figure of the "King" is a miniature Samovar, which is a deeply reinterpreted reduced copy of a Jar-type gift samovar made by Tula craftsmen for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. The figure is decorated with bas-reliefs of the "Bronze Horseman" and the "Blacksmith Tsar" - monuments to Emperor Peter I, installed in St. Petersburg and Tula, decorated with contrasting jewelry enamel. The miniature has a rotating crane and moving handles held in the mouths of lion heads – one of the most used royal symbols in heraldry. As a support in the construction of the samovar, legs made in the form of lion paws are used. The removable lid of the samovar with a rotary closing mechanism is crowned with a gold-plated crown.
The figure "Queen" is a miniature Samovar symbolizing the power and pomp that marked the reign of the pleiades of Russian empresses in the XVIII century, considered a truly "Golden Age" in the history of the Russian Empire. The prototypes for the creation of this figure were an organic combination of ethnocultural images of the "Golden Age" and samovars made in that era. These are samovars of the "Vase" type, made in Moscow in the workshops of K.Ya. Petr Sevryugin, as well as several other unknown manufacturers. A gold-plated crown on the lid, equipped with swivel clamps, crowns the magnificent torso of the figure. The branch of the crane in the form of a bracket with a relief floral ornament is moving, spring-loaded. The legs are flat and wide with an elegant cast ornament. The handles, echoing in their decoration and shape with the fashionable trends of the "Gallant Age" - Empire and Rococo, complement the majestic image of the Empress.
The figure of the "Officer" is a miniature Samovar, playing off the dignified and somewhat pompous image of the highest officers of the Russian Empire. To create the shape and design of the figure, samovars of the "Egg" type were used, created at different times by Tula craftsmen from the factory of Ivan Batashev, the Shemarin brothers and other titled manufacturers. Image Details:the body is egg-shaped, the narrow part is directed downward. A burner with a narrow straight side, slots on the burner in the form of crossed rings. The handles and the rotating faucet are decorated with openwork decor. The turnip is oval, embossed. The stem of the crane is faceted, with a relief lining at the spout. The branch of the crane is 8-shaped, stylized as the stem of a plant. The neck is on a round stepped base, the slots are blown in the form of curly quadrangles and crescents. The legs protruding forward are embossed, on the bases in the shape of a "hoof", correlating in shape and perception with armor. The lid is equipped with an element characteristic of the displayed chess piece.
The figure "Horse" is a miniature Samovar, transferring to the shape of the samovar "Vases", the idea of the pride of the armed forces of the Russian Empire – cavalry. The handles of the samovar, stylized as horse heads with manes, the lid, which is attached to the body by means of fasteners characteristic of the harness, the perfectly polished sides of the body, resembling a horse's rump and legs, in shape having a direct resemblance to the headstock and hooves of a horse - all this creates a unique symbiosis of the samovar and the chess piece of a Horse. The image is complemented by hundreds of microscopic diamond-shaped holes in the blower, a rotating elegant faucet and the general idea of concentricity permeating the miniature design.
The figure "Tower" is a miniature Samovar, the basis for the shape of which was given by the combination of a Glass-type samovar and siege towers, as well as the walls of various fortifications of medieval cities of Russia – the kremlins. The octagonal shape of the body, the lid with a rotationally locking lock, topped with a toothed top, the conciseness of the forms, alternating architectural square and round details in different structural elements, the solidity of the conical structure as a whole, a rotating crane - all this creates the readability of the form as a complete, integral image of the figure-samovar.
The Pawn figure is a miniature samovar depicting the role of infantry in military campaigns. On the one hand, infantry soldiers, seemingly far from decision-making centers, have always, especially in the Russian army, served as the basis, the main blacksmiths of victories on the battlefields. In the European tradition, infantry was assigned a technical role, the role of performers blindly obeying orders, whereas for the Russian infantry, the main component was always the military spirit. It was thanks to him that Russian troops defeated numerous enemies and occupied European capitals. In chess, a pawn can also become a queen, and by creating a piece for this set, the hypothetical nature of this event was put into its image. The basis was a samovar of the "Shar" type from manufacturers such as the Vorontsov factory in Tula, the Batashev Partnership and some others. With the help of a series of design techniques, the shape of the samovar was "rewritten" in the theme of the armor of the corresponding figure: the legs were made to read more massively and thoroughly, confident. The defensive nature of the cutouts in the vent, the smooth polished sides resembling polished armor, the shape of the snap fasteners connecting the lid to the body through a hinged mechanism, the characteristic joints of the handles with it and the handle crowning the lid of the "chess" shape - all this, coupled with the decisive shape of the rotary crane, creates a complete image of an infantryman embodied in a miniature samovar - a chess piece.
Materials:925 sterling silver, marble, jewelry enamels.
Weight of used silver:3,670 gr.
The content of precious metals:gold (999.9) – 5 microns; black rhodium – 8 microns.
Design features: made of 925 sterling silver in the technique of precision artistic casting and handmade. The figures are decorated with electroplated precious coatings of gold and black rhodium, as well as jewelry enamel. The board is made of three types of marble, has legs made of 925 sterling silver, as well as silver inlay on the margins with the designation of horizontals and verticals. The set is packed in a case made of precious wood - sapele, which has individual beds for each of the 32 figures.