Important Silversmiths – Ivan Britzin
20th Century Imperial Russian silver-gilt & guilloche enamel cigarette case, body enamelled in translucent red over a engine-turned ground, the thumb piece mounted with finely set old cut diamonds, lid mounted with initials PM, inside richly parcel gilded and engraved in Cyrillic; Kavkaz-Galitzia, 1914-1915.
Hallmarked Russian silver 88 (916), St-Petersburg, year 1908-1917, Maker's mark in Cyrillic; Britzin.
Reference Number: B5528
Ivan Britzin was born in the Moscow province, but was apprenticed in St. Petersburg where he opened his own workshop in 1870. Although it has not been proved, it has been suggested that Britzin was apprenticed to Fabergé and worked for him.
He produced mainly guilloche enamel pieces, especially cigarette cases, picture frames, powder boxes and clocks and mostly using a palette characterised by pastel colors. Thanks to their very fine quality, his pieces gained an international popularity and were retailed by Noble & Co. in London and by Marshak in Kiev. Both for the quality of its artworks and for the high quantity of its production, Britzin’s firm can be considered Fabergé’s leading competitor.
In 1917 the outbreak of the Russian Revolution forced the company to close. After the Revolution Ivan Britzin kept working for several jewellers Artels until his death in 1952.