KOVSH

Russian drinking vessel with a boat-shaped body and a single handle. It is thought that many of the earliest examples, which date from the 16th century, were presented by the tsars to loyal supporters; they are sometimes engraved with the royal double-headed eagle and are inscribed around the rim with the name and an account of the recipient. The vessels were usually made of silver and, until the 18th century, were of fairly simple design. One example, dating from sometime after 1563 and said to have been the gift of Peter I the Great to Augustus the Strong (Frederick Augustus I) of Saxony, however, is of gold, niello (inlay of black metallic alloy), sapphires, and pearls. Russian goldsmiths in the 19th century were still producing the kovsh in traditional styles.