RUSSIAN CZARIST ERA SOUVENIR SPOONS



These spoons appear to be souvenir spoons which were made in the old style of spoon making.
I had not realized that the souvenir spoon collecting fad had reached Russia until a kind reader
helped me understand the writing on these spoons.


russian souvenir spoons
All of these spoons have the Russian 84 zolotnic silver mark

kazkav spoon russia
Kavkaz
historic area associated with the Caucasus region

russian silver engraved spoon
Thanks to a kind reader, Anna Armarchuk, I can now give my readers further insight into this unusual spoon.
The writing around the edge is basically translated as
"Eat bread and salt, tell the truth"
This is an old proverb from various Slavic areas.

Bread and salt are very common items used to greet guests and show the host's hospitality.
The practice is used  in most Slavic areas.
(The custom goes back centuries and was even used on the international space station.)
The guest will dip the bread into salt (special containers were often made for this ceremonial occasion.)

Why bread and salt? -- Jesus said "I am the bread of life" and said "you are the salt of the earth"
After the greeting, the guests should talk truthfully to each other.

On the spoon above, the writing is along the edge. It is not possible to take a picture from any angle to capture the entire message, so I took 3 pictures and you will have to put them together in your mind

russian souvenir spoonrussian souvenir spoonrussian souvenir spoon
1. left side of handle
2. opposite handle
3. right side of handle







russian silver engraved spoon
Does anybody recognize  this scene?

russian silver engraved spoon
After extensive research Anna and I have come to the conclusion that this is a generalized
view of the churches in the Kremlin (Moscow) viewed from outside the fortress walls. You can see
the fortress walls and the river bank wall near the bottom of the scene. We could not find a picture
with this exact image  from the time period  of this spoon (ca. 1900). If you have a different
interpretation, please let me know.
Many of the old churches were destroyed or modified during the Soviet era.


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