Rare silver cup holder went under the hammer at Violiti

A silver cup holder with a picture of a boyar was sold on Violiti for almost 3.5 thousand dollars. More than 200 people were interested in this lot because of its rarity.

Lot - cup holder in silver 84 with a colorful image of a representative of the upper class. The boyar looks out of a carved window, decorated with a sloping roof and columns with spherical inserts. Flower bouquets are engraved to the right and left of the window. Carved geometric ornaments are located along the contour of the product and its individual elements. The lower part is edged with a scalloped "border".

The exact time when the cup holders began to be used cannot be determined. But there are several versions. Let's focus on three.

One by one, this happened due to the rejection of porcelain in tea ceremonies. It was partially replaced by glass. Subsequently, the cup holder became simply an irreplaceable item in the homes of the nobility.

Another version is associated with the update of the rules of etiquette in the Russian Empire. During the tea ceremony, a woman had to drink tea from a porcelain cup, and a man from a glass cup. For the latter, they began to use cup holders.

According to the third version, it is believed that the use of this "iron uniform" for glasses coincides with the import of tea into the Russian Empire. It was after this that, among other things, cup holders began to decorate men's life. And by the end of the 19th century, ladies' variants also appeared.

And if for some these are the most common items for serving, others prefer to use coasters for glasses, made using the technique of chasing with inlaid precious stones. But these are already rare specimens that are carefully kept in collections. You can buy many of them on the Violiti website.