The Great Troubles in Russia ended in 1613 with the election of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov by the Zemsky Sobor. The country was terribly devastated by crop failures and enemy invasion. The fields were overgrown with weeds, many villages were burned, and their inhabitants were driven into captivity.
The new Russian autocrat understood that, first of all, it was necessary to raise cities and villages from the ashes, to reform the army so that the enemies would not again invade the Russian land.
At the same time, it was necessary to almost re-equip the royal court, make utensils and ceremonial clothes for ceremonial exits and feasts. This was demanded by custom and traditions, because the royal court is the face of the state. The new ruler of Russia had to collect bit by bit what was not plundered during the Time of Troubles, as well as order new dishes and utensils for goldsmiths, which were used during feasts and receptions of foreign guests in the royal palace.
It was then - in 1618 - that this golden ladle was made for Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. In those days, it was believed that the royal utensils should be richly decorated first of all, and everything else, including its functionality, is a secondary matter.
The bucket of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich was wide and low, as if it were flattened on top. It resembled a floating boat, had a flat bottom so that it could be more conveniently placed on the table. The ladle made of gold was richly decorated with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and pearls. And this is not accidental - in those days, noble people were afraid (and there were good reasons for this) that during the feast, enemies might put poison in their drink. Precious stones, as it was believed then, served as a kind of indicator - when they came into contact with poison, they changed their color and thereby warned of the danger of the owner of the bucket or the spell.
In addition to precious stones, an unknown Moscow master decorated the ladle with chasing, carving and niello. Bucket dimensions: length - 30 centimeters, height - 13 centimeters, width - 20 centimeters. The ladle was forged in the workshops of the Kremlin from a single piece of gold weighing more than a kilogram and presented by the nun Martha, the mother of Mikhail Fedorovich, to her son. The high status of the bucket is evidenced by the full royal title, written in ligature on its side, and the embossed state emblem on its bottom.
Such ladles, along with other items of court utensils, were kept in the so-called Grand Treasury of the Kremlin Palace, which was a particularly valuable part of the royal treasury. Buckets of this type were used during ceremonial receptions in the Faceted Chamber - the ceremonial hall of the royal palace, where they served as decoration for special stepped suppliers. During feasts, honey was brought to the most honored guests. For example, in the documents that have survived to this day, it was reported that in 1671, during a dinner in the Cross Chamber of the Patriarchal Court, the Patriarch was brought red honey in three "smart buckets with pearls and stones."
Later, in the 18th century, they no longer drank from ladles, but used them exclusively as awards. And the ladle, which belonged to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, is now kept in the State Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin
Promotional video:
Igor ZIMIN