Russian antique jewelry enterprises.
Joseph Marshak was born in 1854 in the village of Ignatovka, near Kyiv. At the age of 14, the boy seriously thought about a jewelry career. He left his native home for Kyiv and settled in a poor quarter of the city.
Ten years later, Joseph Marshak became a popular jeweler and soon began to exhibit his work in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novgorod. A few years later, Marshak was also recognized by Europe. And in 1893, his creations were awarded a medal at the world exhibition in Chicago, then in Antwerp in 1899.
Iosif Marshak is the first entrepreneur in Russia in whose workshops women worked. At the request of his parents, he also hired underage children – here teenagers were introduced to the jewelry craft, and for the convenience of attending a regular school, their working day became three hours shorter. The extremely difficult situation twice left her no choice and the company slammed the doors to its magical world. But the descendants of the legendary master and fans of the famous brand each time revived it.
Products of the Marshak firm were valued on a par with the works of the workshops of Ignatius Sazikov, Nikita Khlebnikov, Nikolai Ovchinnikov, Carl Faberge. He was nicknamed “Kyiv Cartier”. His customers were often the heads of large firms and government agencies who wanted to prepare a gift for a distinguished guest or bring a commemorative album with a silver chasing on the cover to a well-deserved employee.
The products of his workshop were considered an indispensable attribute of a rich house. It was considered good manners to have miniature silver sculptures in a living room or salon. Genre sculptural compositions made of gold, silver, platinum contributed to the creation of a special aesthetic atmosphere. Often these things were made to order. But both made in one copy and put into mass production, these cast figures were distinguished by exceptional purity of work and careful modeling. However, all the products of Marshak’s workshop were distinguished by their special elegance, refined forms and filigree processing.
Marshak’s jewelry was also distinguished by amazing quality of workmanship and boldness of decisions, ingenuity of design and beauty of the material. All the best – exotic pearls and incredible purity of diamonds, magical shades of emeralds and sapphires … Some of the jewelry created by Iosif Marshak was as expensive as the whole estate. But even “mere mortals” managed to get something “from Marshak” – a decorative box, a pin …
Few objects by which we can judge the work of Marshak, demonstrate the fine craftsmanship of a jeweler. Unfortunately, little has survived.
Jewelry antiques of Joseph Marshak
