Russian silver gilt and niello tankard, Moscow, 1865 by Vasily Semenov.

Marked 84 Russian silver with the maker’s mark ‘VS’ for Vasily Semenov in Cyrillic.

Decorated with two pictures of the Kremlin and St Basil Cathedral.

Size:

14cm x 9.5cm x 13.5cm.

Weight: 566gr.

Fitted in original retail case by Sazikov.

On the front of the tankard it says in English ‘ Presented to the Reverend G.P. Harris. M.A. by the Members of the British Chapel Moscow, 1866.’

On the top rim there is a presentation which says, ‘Beer is no wonder, and mead deserves no praise; above all, love is what matters most.’

The Reverend G.P. Harris, M.A. was an Anglican and Methodist clergyman active in the mid-19th century. Records from 1866 indicate that he frequently performed ministerial and familial duties, including officiating high-profile weddings in Sussex and serving as a scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge. He also provided spiritual guidance to the English and Scottish factory owners, engineers, and merchants residing in Moscow.

In 1866, the British community in Moscow held services at a British chapel which had opened in 1829. This chapel is a short walk from the Kremlin - 8 Voznesensky Lane.