Nikolaï Kemper, Silver Travel Icon Triptych, St Petersburg, 1898-1908

RUSSIA, Saint-Petersburg, 1898–1908
Folding Travel Icon Triptych in Silver (84 zolotniks), Engraved and Vermeil, Comprising at the Central Panel the Holy Face (Holy Mandylion / The Savior Not Made by Hands) and on the Side Wings Saint Peter the Apostle and Saint Alexandra the Empress in Prayer. The Main Panel is Surmounted by a Suspension Ring.
Russian Hallmarks: Standard 84 zolotniks with profile head turned to the left (used before 1908), assay master I.L. for Ivan Lebedkin (Moscow/North-West District), and silversmith master with Cyrillic initials Н.К for Nikolaï KEMPER (active in Saint-Petersburg between 1898 and 1908).
H 10 cm, L 14.5 cm; H 10 cm, L 7 cm (closed)
Good overall state of preservation.

Portable travel icons (skladok) occupied a privileged place in the Orthodox piety of Tsarist Russia from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Executed in guilloché and engraved silver, these pieces often brought together Christ at the center surrounded by the patron saints of their owner. Nikolaï Kemper, a recognized silversmith of Saint-Petersburg, was particularly renowned for the finesse of his repoussé and engraving work on oklads and cult objects.

This silver travel triptych from the Nicholas II period by the silversmith Nikolaï Kemper constitutes a fine example of Russian sacred art from Saint-Petersburg at the turn of the 20th century, uniting private devotion with the excellence of Tsarist goldsmithing.