RUSSIAN SILVER-GILT, FILIGREE AND ENAMEL CHALICE Russia, 19th century

the flared bowl engraved in Church Slavonic with the Communion hymn ‘Receive the Body of Christ, taste the fountain of immortality’ interspersed with crosses, set within a pierced cage of silver filigree and granulation applied with three oval enamel plaques painted en grisaille on a blue ground with the Deesis: Christ in the crown of thorns, the Mother of God and Saint John the Baptist, the baluster stem with beaded borders, the domed foot repoussé and chased with foliage and a border of ovals, applied with four oval enamel plaques depicting scenes of the Passion and the Resurrection Hallmarks: silver standard mark ‘84’, town mark (on the stem); further marks on the base and rim H. circa 22 cm gross weight: 882 gr. Condition: wear to the gilding, oxidation to the interior of the bowl, small wear to the enamels