Ewer, Silver, Moscow 1869, Monogram Of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich Romanov

Extremely rare and very large ewer in solid silver with Moscow hallmarks for the year 1869 and thé  assayer's mark of  Viktor Savinsky. It also bears a rectangular master goldsmith's hallmark M Sh. which I could not identify. On the belly of the ewer is engraved a large monogram in Cyrillic capital letters MH or therefore MN in Roman alfabet, topped with a Russian imperial crown. This learns us that  this object  very probably belonged to Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich Romanov (Petershof 1832-Cannes 1909), youngest son of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and brother of Tsar Alexander II. The style of the ewer, which is close to traditional Caucasian objects, and the date of its manufacture (1869) seem to corroborate this provenance, since Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich was the Viceroy of the Caucasus and commander of its army from 1862 to 1881. With its 42 cm height, this ewer is exceptionally large and bears witness to the great prestige of its illustrious owner. It weighs a very generous 915 grams.