"Russian Niello Snuffbox With View Of St. Petersburg Palace"
A silver snuffbox with niello scrollwork motifs and a lid decorated with an enamel miniature in a gold frame depicting a view of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg along the Neva, built for the Tsars and now the Hermitage Museum. Date circa 1840. City mark: Moscow, 84 Zolotniki.
Master silversmith mark AP for Alexander Palmen in Tammisaari, where Erik Kollin was apprenticed and later head silversmith at Fabergé.
Mark HA: Nikolaì Lukich Dubrovin (asseur)
Niellage is a silversmithing technique that involves applying niello, a black metallic sulfide that includes copper, silver, and often even lead or borax, filling the intaglio patterns of the engraved metal with this molten alloy; then the nielloed surface is polished to remove the excess metal.
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