Important Silversmiths – Ivan Britzin
Ivan Britzin was born in the Moscow province, but was apprenticed in St. Petersburg where he opened his own workshop in 1870. Although it has not been proved, it has been suggested that Britzin was apprenticed to Fabergé and worked for him.
He produced mainly guilloche enamel pieces, especially cigarette cases, picture frames, powder boxes and clocks and mostly using a palette characterised by pastel colors. Thanks to their very fine quality, his pieces gained an international popularity and were retailed by Noble & Co. in London and by Marshak in Kiev. Both for the quality of its artworks and for the high quantity of its production, Britzin’s firm can be considered Fabergé’s leading competitor.
In 1917 the outbreak of the Russian Revolution forced the company to close. After the Revolution Ivan Britzin kept working for several jewellers Artels until his death in 1952.
