A Russian Enamelled Glass Bratina, Maltsov Glassworks, Diatkovo, 1880s

after a design by Elizaveta Bëm, the glass with golden lustre and colorfully enamelled, the neck with the Cyrillic adage "Step aside, soul, or I'll pour it on you," with white factory mark

with some rubbing and loss to enamels
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Elizaveta Bëm designed a new series of works for the Maltsov Glassworks at Diatkovo in the 1880s and 1890s based on pre-Petrine and traditional Russian forms such as the bratina, shtof, and kovsh. Many of the pieces used enamelled decoration to recall the painted green glass popular among Russia's elite in the 17th and early 18th century. The bratina, a form traditionally rendered in gilded silver, was given a layer of luster glaze or enamel that recalled precious metals while the polychrome enamels enlivened the surface. The work was nearly unique in Bëm's career and the freedom the factory granted her undoubtedly resulted from the fact that her brother Aleksandr Endaurov, was the director. The work achieved great acclaim both inside and outside of Russia; it was selected for inclusion in the Russian sections of international expositions and Bëm was awarded prizes at Chicago in 1893, Paris in 1900, Munich in 1902, and Milan in 1906. See D. Nemchinova, Khudozhestvennoe steklo Diatkovskogo zavoda, St. Petersburg, 2009, pp. 94-101.