Cigar box, silver, gilt, filigree, enamel, length 21.5 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1912, from the collection of the Walters Museum.
Fyodor Rückert, originally from Alsace, came to Moscow as a teenager. He learned his craft while working for Ovchinnikov, and opened his own workshop in 1889. He did not have his own store, and like many other silversmiths, Rückert sold the products of his workshop through the stores of large jewelry firms: Ovchinnikov, Kurlyukov, Faberge. His unique style of enameling became a popular category of items from the House of Faberge, known for their luxury. Rückert’s works mostly bear his author’s hallmark. The firm through which the product was sold also put its hallmark, sometimes over the maker’s hallmark. Nevertheless, the style of these works is so recognizable that specialists can easily recognize his works.
Cigar box made of gilded silver with a painted miniature based on the painting by Viktor Vasnetsov “Ivan Tsarevich on the Gray Wolf”, filigree, enamel, sapphire, length 18 cm, workshop of Fyodor Ruckert, 1908-1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.
After the revolution, many of the workshop’s products were sold abroad through foreign currency antique shops and ended up in museum and private collections. A large collection of Fyodor Rückert’s works is in the Walters Museum in Baltimore. The early works of Fyodor Rückert were made in the traditional manner typical of Moscow enamels of that time. But by the beginning of the 20th century, the master had found his own unique style, which is recognizable at first glance by his “signature” techniques: the use of filigree in the form of twisted spirals, shading of patterns with silver “droplets” of amalgam, the use of a muted or frankly dark color scheme with specks. Some of Fyodor Rückert’s ladles are decorated with painted enamel based on paintings by famous Russian artists. Themes from “boyar” antiquity from the canvases of Konstantin Makovsky were especially popular.
A box with an image of Kuzma Minin in Nizhny Novgorod, probably made for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, gilt silver, filigree, enamel, length 16.5 cm, workshop of Fyodor Ruckert, 1908-1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.
The box decor, dedicated to the centenary of the Patriotic War of 1812, is decorated with two medallions on the theme of the Battle of Borodino and heraldic eagles – the double-headed eagle of Alexander I and the single-headed eagle of Napoleon. The left medallion is a mirror image of the equestrian portrait of Tsar Alexander I (1837) by Franz Kruger (1797-1857), which is now in the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. The other medallion is a mirror image of a fragment of J. L. E. Meissonier’s painting “Retreat to France” (1864), which is in the Louvre.
A gilded silver cigarette case with a knight in the moonlight, filigree, enamel, garnet, length 17 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1912 1916, from the collection of the Walters Museum.A gilt silver box with a winter landscape, filigree, enamel, length 12.4 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1908 1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.A gilded silver ladle with a painted miniature on the theme of boyar antiquity, filigree, enamel, length 6.6 cm, workshop of Fyodor Ruckert, 1908 1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.A gilded silver A gilt silver cigarette case with a painted miniature “The Fortune Teller” after the painting by Konstantin Makovsky, filigree, enamel, height 10.5 cm, believed to be the work of Fyodor Ruckert, 1908-1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.A gilded silver box with a painted miniature based on Nikolai Kasatkin’s painting Rivals, filigree, enamel, length 6.8 cm, workshop of Fyodor Ruckert, 1908 1917, collection of the Walters Museum.Gilded silver box with filigree and enamel depicting a boyar’s wife, length 10 cm, workshop of Fyodor Ruckert, 1908 1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver box with painted miniature “Knight at the Crossroads” after the painting by Viktor Vasnetsov, filigree, enamel, length 7.6 cm, believed to be the work of Feodor Ruckert, 1908-1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Shkatulka iz pozolochennogo serebra s zhivopisnoy miniatyuroy po kartine Viktora Vasnetsova «Posle poboishcha Igorya Svyatoslavicha s polovtsami», filigran’, emal’, dlina 11,3 sm, masterskaya Fedora Ryukerta, 1908-1917 gg., iz kollektsii muzeya Uoltersa Shkatulka iz pozolochennogo serebra s zhivopisnoy miniatyuroy «Vityaz’ na rasput’ye» po kartine Viktora Vasnetsova, filigran’, emal’, dlina 7,6 sm, schitayetsya rabotoy Fedora Ryukerta, 1908-1917 gg., iz kollektsii muzeya Uoltersa. Portsigar iz pozolochennogo serebra s zhivopisnoy miniatyuroy «Gadalka» po kartine Konstantina Makovskogo, filigran’, emal’, vysota 10,5 sm, schitayetsya rabotoy Fedora Ryukerta, 1908-1917 gg., iz kollektsii muzeya Uoltersa. Shkatulka s izobrazheniyem Kuz’my Minina v Nizhnem Novgorode, veroyatno, izgotovlennaya k 300-letiyu doma Romanovykh, pozolochennoye serebro, filigran’, emal’, dlina 16,5 sm, masterskaya Fedora Ryukerta, 1908-1917 gg., iz kollektsii muzeya Uoltersa. 914 / 5 000 Gilded silver box with painted miniature after Viktor Vasnetsov’s painting “After the Battle of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians”, filigree, enamel, length 11.3 cm, workshop of Fyodor Ruckert, 1908-1917, from the collection of the Walters MuseumGilt silver box with painted miniature after Konstantin Makovsky’s painting “Blind Man’s Bluff”, filigree, enamel, length 9.3 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1908-1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Box, fragment of side decor.Gilded silver box with painted miniature after Konstantin Makovsky’s paintingGilt silver tea caddy with filigree and enamel, height 15.8 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1908 1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver coffee pot with filigree and enamel, height 10.5 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1899 1909, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Cigarette case with a view of the Moscow Kremlin made of gilded silver with filigree and enamel, height 10.5 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1899 1909, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver Easter egg goblet decorated with enamel and semi precious stones, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1899 1908, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver ladle with enamel and semi precious stones, height 16.7 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, circa 1899 1908, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver coffee pot with enamel, height 21.5 cm, workshop of Feodor Rueckert, circa 1899 1908, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver sugar bowl with enamel, height 14.5 cm, workshop of Feodor Rueckert, circa 1908 1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver sugar bowl with enamel, height 13.5 cm, workshop of Feodor Rueckert, circa 1908, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver letter holder decorated with enamel, height 16.4 cm, workshop of Feodor Rueckert, 1899 1909, from the collection of the Walters Museum.Gilt silver teapot decorated with filigree and painted enamel, height 15 cm, workshop of Feodor Rueckert, circa 1880, from the collection of the Walters Museum, Baltimore.Gilt silver ladle with painted miniature after Sergei Solomko’s watercolor “Return from Matins”, filigree, enamel, height 9 cm, workshop of Feodor Ruckert, 1908-1917, from the collection of the Walters Museum, Baltimore.A gilded silver box with a painted miniature based on Vasily Polenov’s painting The Lord’s Right, filigree, enamel, length 13 cm, workshop of Fyodor Ruckert, 1899-1908, from the collection of the Walters Museum.
