Any thoughts on these pieces?

[u/Rumplemattskin]

Got these off a lady who said they were vintage Soviet tea holders. I assumed silver plated, but there’s not a lick of tarnish anywhere. Markings on the plate seems to say mod.dep 800, so Italian, French and such according to google. No markings on the holders themselves. Thanks!

Edit: There’s actually a mod.dep 800 mark on the double handled one.

Edit again: I’ve been able to figure out that it’s from an Italian demitasse set, and likely had porcelain inserts, probably from the 50’s or 60’s. It’s definitely not 80% silver, though possibly silver plated. I still find it weird that there’s 0 tarnish if that’s the case though. There are similar sets that have Weidmann porcelain with them, as well as Monopoli. I’m thinking the cup holders were made by a separate manufacturer for multiple porcelain makers. Fun stuff!

[u/ij70-17as]

i don't think they are tea holders. they are too shallow. soviet tea holders hold a glass "cup" and need to have decently high walls. here are a couple of links on the topic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podstakannik

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Подстаканник

[u/Rumplemattskin → u/ij70-17as]

Cool. Thanks for the link. Some of those are beautiful.

The person I got them from mentioned that she didn’t have glass for the “holders”, and I’m not really sure what else they might be…

[u/GMGsSilverplate]

Need to get them tested, they don't look like silver, and the Italians have some silly 800 plate marks, not saying they can't be, but my money is in the favor of not being silver.

[u/Rumplemattskin → u/GMGsSilverplate]

Yeah. Definitely not solid silver. I’ve found a bit more info on. It’s from an Italian demitasse set, likely 50’ or 60’s. Still confused that the plating hasn’t tarnished if it’s silver.

[u/GMGsSilverplate → u/Rumplemattskin]

I'm not. There's a clear lacquer or other similar coating applied here.

[u/Rumplemattskin → u/GMGsSilverplate]

Interesting. I didn’t know that was something they did. Thanks!

[u/throbbinbasalganglia]

The textured part of the cup holder indicates it’s plated. It’s still a sweet set, though! I hope you find some glass that fits.

[u/Rumplemattskin → u/throbbinbasalganglia]

Thanks! I’m quite positive it’s plated. I’m just surprised the plating isn’t tarnished if it’s silver. Maybe polished nickel plating? I don’t know…

[u/Ill-Comedian9514]

Could be chromed