Set of Ornate Tested 90% Silver Budapest Coat of Arms Tazze - 20.015 ozt.

Scalloped decorative top rims and floral patterns on the bases. The two figures that act as the stems of these pieces, a standing lion and a standing griffin holding shields, make up the official coat of arms of the capital of Hungary. During the Soviet regime the shields were left blank or filled with Communist iconography, making this likely a piece from that era. Both stamped with an extremely tiny "A." Tested 90% silver. 

Condition: Commensurate with age. 

Size: 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. 

A tazza is a wide but shallow saucer-like dish either mounted on a stem and foot or on a foot alone. The word has been generally adopted by archaeologists and connoisseurs for this type of vessel, used either for drinking, serving small items of food, or just for display. Tazze (plural) are most commonly made in metal, glass, or ceramics, but may be made of other materials, and although the name comes from the Italian word for “cup” the essential form of the object has been observed in many nations throughout history, leading back to the Hellenistic Egypt period in the 2nd Century BC. The shape and the name are sometimes adopted for reference to very large sculptured objects as well, especially ones used for fountains. The colossal tazza in the Linda Hall Library, Kansas City, Missouri, is one of the largest pieces of solid malachite in North America, presented by Czar Nicholas II to August Heckscher in 1910 and given to the Linda Hall Library in 1972 by Mrs. Helen Spencer. It is the focal point at the center of the main reading room of the library, and remains the largest known surviving example of this form from the early 20th Century. Broken variants discovered in archaeological sites in Greece, Iran, and Iraq suggest that some pieces once towered as high as thirty feet, and were likely used for lighting of large spaces, as the shape is perfect for feeding and safely preserving a continuous flame.

Commensurate with age. 

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