Carl Nichols and Konstantin Plinke (Nichols & Plinke) from 1804 to 1842 owned the Magasin Anglais/The English Shop/Английский магазин located on the corner of Nevsky and Bolshaya Morskaya. Both Englishmen Charles (a.k.a. Konstantin) Nicholls and William Plincke had been granted Russian citizenship in 1804. They were elevated to Merchants of the 1st Guild in 1808 and began trading to capitalize on an increased interest in English products in the first half of the 19th Century, at first importing things from England but also retailing items made in the workshops of Russian craftsmen. Around 1815 they took over a business founded by their fellow countryman John Pickersgill (1765-1841) which was renamed William Plincke’s English Shop. In 1829 they established Messrs. Nicholls and Plincke's Magasin Anglais which supplied luxury goods to the Russian market. Therefore Nichols&Plinke mark "NP" is more a trade mark /logo/ than a maker's mark. Since the 1820s they have been supplying various goods to the imperial court, including jewelry. Not having their own workshops, they entrusted the execution of orders to well-known firms and workshops. Talented jeweler, silversmith Heinrich August Long, together with his students and apprentices, carried out many orders from Nichols & Plinke. From 1842 to 1879, the owner of the store was a merchant of the 1st guild, Robert Yakovlevich Kokhun, who established a factory of gold, silver and bronze items at the store. It produced silver table and tea sets, vases with sculptural images, and household items. Famous jewelers S. Arnd, I. Henrikson, A. Tobinkov worked for the firm. The heirs continued the business in 1880s, after which the company was liquidated.
Iconography of Nichols&Plinke lions.
1st class badge.
Silver, gilt, strass stones, enamel.
Size 90 x 64 mm.
Marked with silver hallmark "84", "St. Petersburg coat of arms" and mark "N&P" for Nichols&Plinke.
Marks.
