The vast size, impeccable quality and presence of an imperial double-headed eagle at the prow of the kovsh suggests that this piece may have been an imperial presentation gift for the individual whose cypher, an entwined Cyrillic PF, we see inscribed both on the kovsh handle and the accompanying ladle. The use of Kivshenko’s Military Council at Fili (1880) and the left panel from Vereshchagin’s The Old Partisan (1887-1895) for the en plein sections of this kovsh associate the work with the Napoleonic Wars and two of the major Russian representations of its events in art. These specific events are symbolic of patriotism, military strength and intellect, and the unwavering Russian spirit.

Kivshenko was best known for his historical scenes, in particular those illustrating the Napoleonic Wars and the Russo-Turkish Wars. Military Council at Fili is set in the penultimate year of the Napoleonic Wars following the French invasion of Russia and the Battle of Borodino on 7th September 1812.

Based on Tolstoy’s description of the event in War and Peace, Military Council at Fili is one of Kivshenko’s most well-known works. The scene invites the spectator into the arduous debate held in the hut of a peasant named Mikhail Frolov by Generals Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly, Bennigsen, Dokhturov, Ermolov, Konovnitsyn, Osterman-Tolstoy, Raevsky, Tol, Uvarov and Kaysarov to determine how best to save Moscow from subsequent French invasion. Throughout this council the generals argued between retreating and defending Moscow, which was at the time being protected by the army from a weak position and at threat of attack.

Unwilling to render futile the losses and bloodshed of the battle and undermine the brave fighting spirit of the Russian soldiers, Bennigsen resisted retreat in favour of another battle. Barclay de Tolly, on the other hand, saw retreat as a way of saving the army and therefore prolonging its efforts to defend the rest of Imperial Russia. Eventually, it was Kutuzov’s plan upon which the council decided: the army retreated down the Ryazan road before diverting onto the old Kaluga road once they reached Podolsk. The French scouts were caught off guard by the Russian army’s departure in the dead of night, and Napoleon was consequently unable to locate the Russian forces for a total of nine days.

Vereshchagin’s The Old Partisan sits within a two-part series of paintings called ‘Year of 1812’ that earned him a reputation as one of Russia’s most significant and internationally recognized war artists. The ‘Napoleon I in Russia’ part of this series includes seventeen paintings depicting key events of the Russian campaign such as the Battle of Borodino and the invasion of Moscow. It is in this latter section that Vereshchagin sought to become not just a war painter, but a true history painter, paying close attention to small details, authenticity of representation and psychology.

The Old Partisan is divided into three panels: ‘Hush! Let them approach!’; ‘Shoot anyone who is armed’; and ‘Fix Bayonnets! Hurrah! Hurrah!’. The panel illustrated in the present kovsh depicts a group of villagers who lurk behind the snow-covered trees, keeping watch for the impending French invasion. Led by a village elder known as Semyon Arkhipovich, the villagers’ expressions reveal their rage and patriotic pride as they stand hidden, ready to ambush their enemy and die defending their fellow countrymen. Arkhipovich was an historically recognised figure hailing from a village in the Krasninsky district, Smolensk province, where he was one of the village headmen.

Comparative with two other such kovshi by Cheryatov previously sold at Sotheby’s, the present kovsh is an example of this maker’s most impressive and significant works. Cheryatov’s masterful skill frequently gained him commissions from Fabergé and Lorié and cemented his position within the canon of Russia’s greatest silversmiths and enamellers alongside Rückert and Ovchinnikov.