Museum complex

Granted kovsh (ladle)

Moscow
Middle of the XVII century
Around the edge, in circles and a band there is an curved inscription: “By the grace of God, the great sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of the all Russian autocrat. This kovsh of gold and silver prikaz and the Kostroma quarters granted by the sovereign to the scribe Bogan Silin for service and for the gold and silver affairs that were made in Zvenigorod in the Savva monastery of the wonderworker of Storozhevsk in the past and the current year”
Silver; carving, gilding
11,8 х 30,3 х 21,3 cm
From: bought in 1926
Showcase 2

The kovsh was granted to scribe Bogdan Silin, who headed in 1641–1682 the Gold and Silver Chambers of the Armory Chancery (Prikaz), for directing the manufacture of gold and silver items for the Zvenigorod Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery in 1649–1650, which was under the special patronage of the reigning house during the reign of early Romanovs. During the reign of tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the ensemble of the monastery was rebuilt, which became the suburban royal residence – a royal palace and Tsarina's chambers were erected in it, and stone walls were built around the monastery. The monastery's churches were painted by icon-painters of the Moscow Kremlin Armory Chamber. The monastery acquired the status of Lavra, became “the own sovereigns place for praying” and was subordinated to the tsar’s private office, to the Chancery (Prikaz) of the Secret Affairs.

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The Armory Chamber workshops are one of the first state-owned manufactories in Russia. The beginning of the Armory Chancery (Prikaz) history dates back to the first half of the XVI century, when Kremlin workshops began to manufacture weapons for the sovereign’s court. The Armory, Silver, Golden Chambers, the painting and other workshops of the Armory Chancery (Prikaz), where not only weapons were produced, but also horse furnishings, precious metals, icons, paintings and embroideries, grew on a base of these workshops by the XVII century. Workshops of the Armory Chancery united the best craftsmen of the country and were a state manufactory of the scattered type. Craftsman of different specialities worked over single items. For example, in the manufacture of an artistic weapon participated as gunsmiths: armor makers, harquebusiers and others, as well as silver, gold and diamond industry craftsmen, appliers of gold on metal, bone and wood carvers, up to icon painters who created drawings to decorate weapons.
In the XVII century gold and silver kovshs gradually lost their practical purpose and were more often used as an honorary award for work and merits: military and embassy service, "building a new city", collecting duties and other sovereign service.
The elegant shape of the granted kovsh was complemented by a pattern and an inscription indicating the name of the person awarded the date and the reason for the award. Granted kovshs were carefully kept as signs of high merit and transferred by succession.

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