kovsh

The Kovsh is a traditional drinking vessel or ladle from Russia.

The kovsh may have been a family treasure, although Christie's does not offer the name of the consignor, only "the property of a gentleman."

While the kovsh may seem ungainly and vulgar to the inexperienced eye, it certainly is showy and has imperial associations.

Metal Kovsh began to appear around the 14th century, although it also continued to be carved out of wood and was frequently brightly painted in peasant motifs.

Originally the Kovsh made from wood and used to serve and drink mead, with specimens excavated from as early as the tenth century.

Ref: 731 Silver gilt and shaded enamel kovsh by Ivan Saltykov, Moscow.

(This section has an elegant, typically Russian drinking vessel called a kovsh that held a fearsome amount of liquor and was presumably not to be sipped.)

This particular kovsh, from the early 1900's, has the traditional boat form with a squat body, a raised "prow" and a hooklike "rudder," which is actually its handle.

By the 17th century, the Kovsh was often an ornament rather than a practical vessel, and in the 19th century it was elaborately cast in precious metals for presentation as an official gift of the tsarist government.

Optogan was founded in 2004 in Espoo, Finland by Dr. Maxim Odnoblyudov, Dr. Vladislav Bougrov and Dr. Alexey Kovsh, all graduates of the chair of Nobel Prize laureate Zhores Alferov.