LATE 19TH CENTURY RUSSIAN TEA BLOCK BY A.V. SHVETSOV & SONS impressed with a depiction of a trader driving a sleigh pulled by three horses delivering a shipment of tea, also the sun with crescent moon and six-pointed stars, with Cyrillic letters, approximately 18.5cm x 24cm, some damage to the edges Note: In the mid 19th century, after the Opium Wars, Russian businessmen set up tea block producing factories in the areas now known as Hubei and Fujian provinces. The block has cyrillic letters spelling Shvetsova and the trademark for A.V. Shvetsov & Sons who sold tea and tea wares across Russia - from Moscow to Astrakhan. This company was involved not only in the tea trade with China but also in the Siberian fur trade and owned cotton plantations in Central Asia