The upper medallion contain a scene which combines the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt with the story of their crossing the Red Sea. In the center, a mass of people are depicted coming out of a city gate. They walk on a path flanked by water on each side. Moses with his rod, together with Aaron lead the Israelies. Some men are discernible behind them and a child with his sheep is seen on the right following them. The buildings of the city are seen at the background.
Structure: hammered
Decoration: repousse, punched, engraved
Inscription: engraved
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.