A Russian Imperial presentation covered gilded silver cup, Gavrila Gavrilov Zon, Moscow, 1762. The baluster-form cup, domed foot, & cover chased & repoussé with multiple teardrop-shaped lobes, each lobe chased & repoussé with matted scroll- & shellwork, the stem formed as a wild man in a tree finely engraved in imitation of bark, the wild man brandishing a hatchet, & the area above & below with curling silverwork suggesting the leaves of a forest, the slip-on cover surmounted by a gilt Imperial double-headed eagle with additional curling silverwork at its base, struck with maker’s mark, & Cyrillic initials AG of an unidentified Moscow assayer. Height 13 3/8 in. (35.3 cm).

The wild man was a mythical woodland creature frequently used in Central European goldwork. Rooted in the Classical tradition of the satyr & faun, his appearance in medieval art was meant to symbolize a brutish or irrational force; by the 16th century, the meaning had changed & now symbolized fortitude, might, & other characteristics of a successful military leader. Numerous pieces of Nuremburg silver & gold presented to Russia’s tsars & held in the Kremlin Armory introduced the form to gold- & silversmiths active in the Armory Workshops in the 17th & early 18th centuries.