Mysterious Antique Russian .875 Silver Pedestal Bowls

[vintagethriftshopnyc]

Hi, All-

Hoping someone can help me to determine the purpose of these antique Russian bowls. They're handmade, stamped "84" (which tells me that they're .875 silver).

They stand about 5" tall, oval 'canoe'-shaped bowl on cylindrical pedestal. Salt cellars?  Candy bowls? I'm baffled.

Thanks, in advance

[argon38]

Could you post close-up photos of the marks, as well? I realise you are not looking to have them identified, but it might be useful nevertheless.

[vintagethriftshopnyc]

Thanks for your interest. Attached is a photo of the "84" mark, and what appears to be a stamped maker's mark of bottom of foot. 

The mark appears to be a mountain range with three peaks, and the letters "BRDO" beneath. Or, possibly "GRDO"? Teeny weeny mark, tough to read.

[vintagethriftshopnyc]

A few more pics.

They're so odd, I can't imagine the purpose of such a bowl on such a spindly, skinny pedestal base. 

[flo_mingo]

i am wondering if they are russian Orthodox  communion wafer bowls? 

[picknparley]

Good to guess in the religious artifacts area.  That's what they look like.

Course, I guess they could be beard washing bowls!   lol

[maxine*j]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that 84 appears on silver and on silverplate that is not Russian.  Persian silver was sometimes marked 84.  Also, the number 84 can appear on silverplate, as a quality mark representing the total silver content in "x" number of pieces. 

The letters are not Cyrillic, either, which makes me wonder about a Russian origin.

[argon38]

I think Maxine is right about it not being Russian, because it is missing certain other stamps that would be required on Russian silver pieces. That's why I wanted to see the marks. But I do not have a clue what the objects actually are.

[lacemaker3]

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@vintagethriftshopnyc wrote:

Thanks for your interest. Attached is a photo of the "84" mark, and what appears to be a stamped maker's mark of bottom of foot. 

...

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It looked like "89" to me, rather than "84". However, once I enlaged the image as much as possible, I'm not sure what it says.

I think a high-resolution, carefully focussed picture of the mark would be helpful. 

Link to the high-resolution image: https://community.ebay.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/613277iE6C24CDA5CB42E23/

[william-holden-caulfield]

Persian, eh? Guess that's possible. Thanks.

(Different username becuase am signed into different Ebay account at another computer... I'm the OP)

[argon38]

What's this, do you know?

[maxine*j]

Interesting, to me, that BRDO means HILL in Croation and Slovenian (and maybe other South Slavic languages), and on this piece the image above BRDO looks like stylized hills.   A  clue as to origin, maybe?

[argon38]

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@maxine*j wrote:

Interesting, to me, that BRDO means HILL in Croation and Slovenian (and maybe other South Slavic languages), and on this piece the image above BRDO look like stylized hills.   A  clue as to origin, maybe?

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I was just checking out that very angle. Seems preferable to Persia, but really I have no idea.

[maxine*j]

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@argon38 wrote:

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@maxine*j wrote:

Interesting, to me, that BRDO means HILL in Croation and Slovenian (and maybe other South Slavic languages), and on this piece the image above BRDO look like stylized hills.   A  clue as to origin, maybe?

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I was just checking out that very angle. Seems preferable to Persia, but really I have no idea.

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I don't think it's Persian, because if it were I don't  think  there'd be letters in the Latin alphabet on it.   Slovenian and Croation do use the Latin alphabet, though.  I mentioned Persian only in the context of not using 84 alone to decide something is Russian silver.  (And -lacemaker- may be right that it says 89 rather than 84, anyhow.)

[vintagethriftshopnyc]

The red-circled indentation is just a little free-form depression, not a stamp (have examined it very carefully with a loupe). The "84" mark is absolutely an 8 & a 4 (as opposed to a 9). I know my photos weren't the best, used my phone's camera.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts, much appreciated.