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拍品专文
Fabergé's everlasting flower studies were popular among the Russian imperial family and aristocracy, who were known for their love of flowers and knowledge of botany. St. Petersburg was home to countless florists, some of whom supplied imperial palaces with fresh flowers transported on ice by train from France. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was the first member of the imperial family to purchase a flower study by Fabergé. With her purchase in 1895 of a yellow rose, she set a new fashion for these precious objets d'art.
The present rare study of a bearberry has a scratched inventory number ‘17677’ and is recorded in the ledger books of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna (1853-1920), daughter of Emperor Alexander II. She purchased this flower from the Fabergé shop in St. Petersburg on April 30, 1913 for 250 roubles. Interestingly, the ledgers described the study as ‘lingonberry’ which belongs to the same family of heath plants. Bearberry and lingonberry look very similar. They both have small waxy leaves, bell-shaped white to pink flowers, and are often confused with each other.
The gold stalk of this bearberry is also stamped with a rare mark ‘LFB’ for Fabergé’s London Branch. This mark was used on items that were to be sent to London only for a short period of time in late 1910-early 1911, before it was superseded by the ‘CF’ mark imposed on the firm by the Goldsmiths’ Company on March 7, 1911.
This unique study of a bearberry later belonged to the famous art collectors and philanthropists Belle and Jack Linsky, New York. They assembled an impressive collection of Old Master paintings, French furniture and porcelain which was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1982, as well as a large collection of Fabergé which was sold during their lifetime.
The inspiration for Fabergé’s flower studies came from a variety of sources – from the European Art Nouveau to Asian artistic traditions, including Chinese hardstone carvings. The collaborative process involved many skilled artists and goldsmiths of the firm. It began with designs which, according to H.C. Bainbridge, were often executed by Karl Fabergé himself. The work was then carried out in stages: setting the precious stones, enameling the flowers, carving leaves, adding the gold stalks and grasses, and finally assembling the flowers.
Fabergé's elegant creations were often placed in rock-crystal vases, carved in the trompe l'oeil technique from a single piece of rock crystal to give the illusion of water. The shaped golden stems were delicately engraved with fine lines, the leaves were carved from nephrite and the flowers or berries were often executed in enameled gold.
We are grateful to Dmitry Krovishei for his assistance with the research of the present lot.
The present rare study of a bearberry has a scratched inventory number ‘17677’ and is recorded in the ledger books of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna (1853-1920), daughter of Emperor Alexander II. She purchased this flower from the Fabergé shop in St. Petersburg on April 30, 1913 for 250 roubles. Interestingly, the ledgers described the study as ‘lingonberry’ which belongs to the same family of heath plants. Bearberry and lingonberry look very similar. They both have small waxy leaves, bell-shaped white to pink flowers, and are often confused with each other.
The gold stalk of this bearberry is also stamped with a rare mark ‘LFB’ for Fabergé’s London Branch. This mark was used on items that were to be sent to London only for a short period of time in late 1910-early 1911, before it was superseded by the ‘CF’ mark imposed on the firm by the Goldsmiths’ Company on March 7, 1911.
This unique study of a bearberry later belonged to the famous art collectors and philanthropists Belle and Jack Linsky, New York. They assembled an impressive collection of Old Master paintings, French furniture and porcelain which was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1982, as well as a large collection of Fabergé which was sold during their lifetime.
The inspiration for Fabergé’s flower studies came from a variety of sources – from the European Art Nouveau to Asian artistic traditions, including Chinese hardstone carvings. The collaborative process involved many skilled artists and goldsmiths of the firm. It began with designs which, according to H.C. Bainbridge, were often executed by Karl Fabergé himself. The work was then carried out in stages: setting the precious stones, enameling the flowers, carving leaves, adding the gold stalks and grasses, and finally assembling the flowers.
Fabergé's elegant creations were often placed in rock-crystal vases, carved in the trompe l'oeil technique from a single piece of rock crystal to give the illusion of water. The shaped golden stems were delicately engraved with fine lines, the leaves were carved from nephrite and the flowers or berries were often executed in enameled gold.
We are grateful to Dmitry Krovishei for his assistance with the research of the present lot.