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    • Posts Tagged ‘Fabergé’

    THE WINTER EGG AND IMPORTANT WORKS BY FABERGÉ

    Thursday, October 2nd, 2025

    A MAGNIFICENT AND HIGHLY IMPORTANT IMPERIAL WINTER EGG BY FABERGÉ. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £22,895,000 (€26,008,720)

    Commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna the Winter Egg will be offered by Christie’s in London on December 2 during Classic Week with an estimate of in excess of £20 million. The Easter gift to his mother was in 1913, the year of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty.  The creative genius of Fabergé’s most celebrated female designer Alma Theresia Pihl – exquisitely executed by her uncle workmaster Albert Holmström – it is among the most lavish of Fabergé’s Imperial creations and widely regarded as one of the most original and artistically inventive Easter eggs that the house created for the Imperial family. Believed lost for almost two decades, between 1975 and 1994, The Winter Egg has previously set the world record for a work by Fabergé not once but twice: when it was offered by Christie’s in 1994, upon being rediscovered, and again in 2002.

    The egg is finely carved in rock crystal, delicately engraved on the interior with a frost design, while the exterior is applied with rose-cut diamond-set platinum snowflake motifs, with two vertical diamond-set platinum borders concealing a hinge on the side and a cabochon moonstone dated 1913. The egg is on a rock-crystal base formed as a block of melting ice, applied with rose-cut diamond-set platinum rivulets, centering a platinum pin in the middle to support the egg,  and opens to reveal the ‘surprise’ suspended from a platinum hook. This comprises a double-handled trelliswork platinum basket, set throughout with rose-cut diamonds, full of finely carved white quartz wood anemones, each spring flower with gold wire stem and stamens, the centre set with a demantoid garnet, the leaves delicately carved in nephrite, emerging from a bed of gold moss. The sale will offer important works by Fabergé from a princely collection.

    UPDATE: The Winter Egg sold for £22,895,000 (€26,008,720), setting a new world auction record for a work by Fabergé for the third time in its storied history, all at Christie’s.

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    Castle Howard Fabergé animals at Sotheby’s

    Monday, February 24th, 2025

    A large Fabergé jewelled obsidian model of a rhinoceros, St Petersburg, circa 1900 (£50,000-£70,000)

    One of the last important groups of Fabergé animals in private hands will be sold by Castle Howard at Sotheby’s in May. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the restoration of the long lost tapestry drawing room at the castle. The collection of some 30 rare and beautiful carvings is similar to those owned by the British Royal Family and members of the Russian Imperial Court. With the latter
    disassembled by Revolution and the former still held in the Royal Collection, the sale marks an opportunity for collectors to acquire pieces that fully demonstrate why Fabergé earned a prime position in royal and noble collections throughout Europe.

    The pieces range from a tiny vole carved of smoky quartz to a commanding obsidian rhinoceros, a captivating bloodstone anteater to a charming series of woodland animals. Alongside the menagerie, the collection also includes Fabergé and European desk accessories.

    Part of the proceeds from the auction will contribute to the restoration of the Tapestry Drawing Room, gutted by a devastating fire in 1940. It has remained a shell ever since. As part of a major renovation of Castle Howard’s historic interiors, from April 2025, visitors will be able to see the fully restored and decorated space, with the tapestries that originally hung in the room returned to their original positions.

    A group from the collection.

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    AMAZING FABERGE COLLECTION AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, October 1st, 2021
    GOLD-MOUNTED ENAMEL, NEPHRITE AND ROCK CRYSTAL STUDY
    OF WILD STRAWBERRIES BY FABERGÉ, ST PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1900. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £325,000

    AN iconic, private collection of Fabergé masterpieces from the collection of Harry Woolf takes place live at Christie’s in London on November 29 during the Autumn Russian Art sales season. There are 86 pieces from Mr. Woolf’s extraordinary Fabergé collection personally composed over a period of nearly fifty years from the 1970’s until 2019. They range from jewelled hardstone animals and decorative photograph frames, to pill boxes, scent bottles, silver pieces and jewellery. Harry Woolf is recognised for having collected only the very finest examples and has one of the most exemplary Fabergé collections known to have been curated by any private collector in the last fifty years. The study of wild strawberries pictured here is estimated at £200,000-300,000.

    More than ten rare pieces from this prestigious collection (not included in Christie’s sale) are included in the forthcoming  Fabergé: From Romance to Revolution exhibition at the V&A in London. This opens on November 20.

    UPDATE: THE SALE REALISED £5,203,250, MORE THAN DOUBLE THE PRE-SALE LOW ESTIMATE

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    RUSSIAN WORKS OF ART AT SOTHEBY’S ONLINE SALE

    Wednesday, June 2nd, 2021

    An Important Imperial Presentation jewelled gold and guilloché enamel snuffbox, by workmaster Nikolai Chernokov, Bolin, St Petersburg, 1908-1917 comes up at Sotheby’s sale of Russian Works of Art, Fabergé & Icons which runs in London from today until June 9. It was presented to Vice Admiral Count Carl August Ehrensvärd (1858-1944) by Emperor Nicholas II during his state visit to Sweden in 1909 and is estimated at £200,000-300,000. The cypher of Emperor Nicholas II set with rose-cut diamonds is applied to the lid. The sale brings together an unprecedented group of imperial presentation pieces and a rare group of twenty-four Russian Military Orders from an Important Swiss Collection, including a rare Collar of the Order of St Andrew and a seldom seen diamond-set, silver-topped, gold-mounted and enamel Grand Cross set of insignia for the Order of St Catherine, circa 1890.

    The Imperial presentation snuff box

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    A FABERGE CIGARETTE CASE AT DURROW AUCTION

    Saturday, April 25th, 2015
    A Faberge cigarette case, an early 20th century flying machine and an Elizabethan refectory table are among the lots on offer at Sheppards two day sale in Durrow, Co. Laois on April 28 and 29. The sale offers 1,300 lots of period furniture, fine art, decorative art, jewellery and garden statuary.  There are examples of Sevres porcelain, a collection of Louis Vuitton bags, a nude by Paul Sieffert, marble and stone garden statuary, musical instruments, carpets, rugs, jewellery and even a flying machine powered by a Villiers engine from the 1920’s.
    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 17, 2015).

    ITALIAN MINIATURE AND ORMOLU MOUNTED EBONY JEWELLERY CASKET (6,000-9,000)

    ITALIAN MINIATURE AND ORMOLU MOUNTED EBONY JEWELLERY CASKET (6,000-9,000)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,500

    An early 20th century flying machine (3,000-5,000)

    An early 20th century flying machine (3,000-5,000)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,400

    An Elizabethan carved oak refectory table 16th century and later (6,000-9,000).

    An Elizabethan carved oak refectory table 16th century and later (6,000-9,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,500

    A presentation Faberge silver cigarette case (1,000-1,500).

    A presentation Faberge silver cigarette case (1,000-1,500).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000

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    A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin and Fabergé at Christie’s

    Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
    A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin will lead Christie’s Russian sale on June 6 in London. Painted in 1875, the work depicts a lively French café scene and represents a daring deviation from Repin’s celebrated Russian subjects. The picture was exhibited at the 1875 Parisian salon and is extensively recorded in the literature on the artist. It was acquired in 1916 by the present owner’s grandfather, who knew Repin.  On the market for the first time in almost a century it is estimated at £3-5 million.
    The afternoon session of the sale is devoted to Russian works of art.  It features more than 40 works by Fabergé, many with Russian Imperial provenance. Leading the selection is a three-colour gold and guilloché enamel Imperial presentation snuff-box by Fabergé (estimate £300,000-500,000).  This was given to Charles Robert Carrington in 1894 to commemorate his attendance at the funeral of Emperor Alexander III and the wedding of Emperor Nicholas II.
    UPDATE: Christie’s achieved the highest price for a painting ever sold in a Russian sale by an international auction house with Repin’s A Parisian Café . The picture session was 92% sold by value. Fabergé was sold 96% by value.  Christie’s say their strategy continues to prioritise quality over quantity; “with this in mind we look forward to our next sale in November.”

    A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin. UPDATE: THIS WAS SOLD FOR £4.5 MILLION, A NEW WORLD RECORD FOR THE ARTIST.

    Imperial presentation snuff-box by Fabergé. UPDATE: THIS WAS ACQUIRED BY AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR FOR £385,250.

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    Fabergé Work Box Leads Christie’s Russian Sale

    Thursday, November 11th, 2010

    A Fabergé work box is the highlight of the Christie’s Russian works of art sale on November 29, 2010.  The jewelled enamelled Imperial presentation snuff-box with the workmaster’s mark of Henrik Wigström was presented to the Turkish diplomat, Turkhan Pasha in December 1913 on behalf of Emperor Nicholas II.

    This was probably to commemorate the end of his five year ambassadorship in St. Petersburg. In 1919 the snuff-box changed hands for the last time, when it was acquired by the family of the present owner. It is estimated at £400,000-600,000.

    Almost 500 lots of Russian Art, including fine paintings, works of art and unique pieces of neo-Russian furniture  will be included.

    UPDATE:  IT sold for £937,250 in a sale that realised £14.9 million.

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