A MONUMENTAL SILVER-GILT AND GEM-SET KOVSH AND LADLE, MIKHAIL TARASOV, MOSCOW, 1908-1917

The Moscow workshop of Mikhail Ivanovich Tarasov is best known for works in the Russian Style, particularly highly detailed scenes of Russian medieval heroes that would have harmonized well with an interior hung with works by painters such as Vasnetsov and Roerich, as well as other artists and designers crafting modern works drawing from Russian fairy tales, byliny, and medieval literature. The firm also produced richly chased vessels with floral ornament drawn from 17th-century enamels, of which the present kovsh and ladle are a particularly fine example. Important examples of the firm’s work are held in the State Historical Museum (O. Strugova, ed., Russkii stil, Moscow, 1999, p. 195) and the Kremlin Museums. Regrettably, little is known about Tarasov and his workshop; the firm is known to have been active at least between 1905 and 1914 and perhaps slightly longer.