The bottom medallion bears a scene of five bearded men seated on two sides of a Seder table which is covered with a cloth. The rabbis wear long robes and round hats are engaged in conversation. Each one holds a book in his hand and sits on a stool. Five cups are placed on the table. Two of their pupils stands to right of the table. One raises his hand to stop their discussion and call them to the morning service. The scene is set inside a room with a tiled floor. In the background are two columns and a curtain hanging from the ceiling.
Structure: hammered
Decoration: repousse, punched, engraved
Inscription: engraved
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hallmarks that indicate Moscow in the 19th century. Cf. Tardy, p. 532-533.
2. The hallmark includes in its center a rectangle divided into nine squares. The rectangle is surmounted by the cipher 13 and is surrounded by the date 1(8?)1(?). It is framed by a rectangle surmounted by an arch. The hallmark is unidentified but it is similar in type to Austro-Hungarian hallmarks. In these hallmarks, the cipher 13 indicates quality and the ciphers around the central motif refer to the date. Cf. Tardy. p. 328.
3. The hallmark includes the initials: F A A, combined together within a frame in a shape of a shield. It is unidentified but probably refers to the artist.
The hallmarks present several problems:
1. They are similar to popular hallmarks but are not given to an exact identification when compared
with hallmarks in the bibliography.
2. Each hallmark represents a different authority, one is Russian and the other is Austro-Hungarian, something that is rarely found together.
3. There is no correlation between the earliest date that the hallmarks indicate (if they are authentic) and the style of the decoration of the plate which is typical of the beginning of the 20th century.