The storied provenance of this exceptional Fabergé desk-set, as part of three prestigious collections, makes its appearance at auction a rare and exciting moment. As one of the most extensive desk sets by Fabergé, it carries distinguished international exhibition history and is a feature of the most important literature in the field. The harmony of the varicolored gold mounts and carefully selected and polished nephrite that comprise each of the twelve pieces are a triumph of Fabergé’s head workmaster Henrik Wigström’s signature Louis XVI-inspired design.

Sir Bernard Eckstein

Sir Bernard Eckstein (1894-1948) became the second Baronet of Fairwarp, East Sussex in 1930. He was the son of Sir Frederick Eckstein (1857- 1930), who was created a baronet in 1929 in recognition of his services to the Empire and to the Sudan.

Known as an enthusiastic patron of the arts, Sir Bernard gathered an impressive and remarkable collection of paintings and works of art, which he held at Oldlands estate in Surrey and his London residence at 25 South Street, Mayfair. He also donated a large part of his collection to various museums, such as the National Gallery, British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Unmarried and childless, his extensive collections were auctioned by Sotheby’s in a series of sales from 1948 to 1950, including that in which pieces from the present desk set were sold on 8 February 1949. Some items sold in the Eckstein sales are now in British permanent collections such as the Fitzwilliam Museum and York Museum Trust. These include a Fabergé flower study of Convolvulus circa 1900, bought by the Royal Ramily as a birthday present for Queen Mary in 1949, now in the Royal Collection. Sir Bernard Eckstein also notably owned the Winter Egg, one of the most important Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs given by Emperor Nicholas II to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna At Easter 1913, now in a Private Collection, Qatar.

King Farouk I of Egypt and Sudan (1920 - 1965)

Farouk I (1920-1965), was the last King of Egypt and Sudan from 1936 until his abdication in 1952, following the Egyptian Revolution.

Known for his luxurious taste, King Farouk gathered, during his lifetime, an outstanding art collection from around the world. After the Egyptian military forced him to flee the country, the Farouk Collection was auctioned by Sotheby's Cairo in 1954. This sale dispersed hundreds of Fabergé objects collected by the Egyptian Royal family, including part of this desk set and the Fabergé Imperial Swan Egg commissioned in 1906 and now held in the Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz, Switzerland.

Following his exile, King Farouk’s son was declared King and a regency council was established, but eventually Egypt was declared a Republic and the Alawid dynasty, which had ruled Egypt since 1805, came to an end.

Baron Heinrich Freiherr Thyssen-Bornemisza

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection is the achievement of two generations of passionate collectors.

Baron Heinrich Freiherr Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon et Impérfalva (1875-1947), second son of successful industrialist August Thyssen (1842-1926), was a German-Hungarian entrepreneur and the first to build the collection. Passionate about classical art, he started his collection in the 1920s. In order to house a collection that was constantly growing and seeking a neutral place in the turbulent Europe of the interwar period, he bought from Prince Leopold of Prussia (1865-1931) the palace of Villa Favorita, in the Swiss town of Lugano, where he spent the rest of his life. In addition, he ordered the construction on the estate of a gallery with the purpose of showing his collection to the public. The gallery opened its doors in 1936, but it remained closed for ten years following the outbreak of World War II. Baron Heinrich Thyssen passed away in 1949 and the youngest of his sons, Hans Heinrich (1921–2002), took over the collection.

Just like his father, Hans Heinrich's passion for collecting was always underlined by the desire to bring it to the public. He organised a full program of exhibitions in Europe, North America, Asia and expanded his father's collection into one of the greatest private collection in the world, rivaled only by that of Queen Elisabeth II.

It is the second Baron who astutely collected Fabergé’s works of art during his life, such as the present desk set included in the catalogue of the collection (Renaissance Jewels, Gold Boxes and Objets de Vertu: The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, C. Truman, A. Cocks, 1984I, p. 343). This publication dedicated its work on the Baron’s decorative arts collection, featuring only the best Fabergé’s pieces.

Baron Thyssen sold the majority of his treasures to Spain in 1993, where they are on permanent display in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid.

The Rarity of Fabergé Desk Sets

Fabergé made a few known desk sets with varying contents, and in different stones. One in kalgan jasper mounted in oxidized silver was in the collection of the late Sir Charles Clore, and another in pale green bowenite in silver-gilt mounts is illustrated by Kenneth Snowman, 1962, fig. 187.

150,000 GBP - 250,000 GBP

*Symbol Definition (Double Dagger):