TEKANNA av Sazikov Pavel Fyodorovich, och sockerskål av EF Branderburg, silver, St Petersburg och Riga, 1853-55

Supplier to the Imperial Court, Sazikov was one of the finest silver firms in pre-revolutionary Russia. Founded in Moscow in 1793 by Pavel Fyodorovich Sazikov (d. 1830), a silver engraver, the company flourished after his death under his son, Ignatii Pavlovich (1793-1868). A virtuoso silversmith in his own right, during his tenure the firm excelled, both in terms of output and quality. An innovator of ideas and technique, Ignatii invited painters and sculptors to join the firm, established a workshop to train eighty apprentices and was the first Russian silversmith to purchase a tour a guillochage, or engine turning machine, made in France. Ignatii received a gold medal in an All Russia Exhibition for a massive centerpiece featuring the Russian victory against the Mongols at Kulikovo in 1380. In 1837 Sazikov was awarded the Imperial Warrant by Tsar Nicholas I, and five years later, opened a branch in St. Petersburg. The firm also exhibited in numerous World Fairs including the London Great Exhibition in 1851 and the 1867 World Exhibition in Paris. By the mid-19th century, Sazikov was internationally recognized attracting a large number of Western European clients. The company continued operation until 1887 when it was passed on to Khlebnikov.