a rare fabergé carved smoky quartz, gold and enamel cup and cover, workmaster michael perchin, st. petersburg, circa 1900

the carved shell-form bowl with slip-on cover and white-enameled hippocampus finial, the gold stem enameled in translucent apple green and strawberry red and flanked by two fanciful sea horses, the domed foot carved with flutes, marked with Cyrillic initials of workmaster, Fabergé in Cyrillic and 56 standard

Sold: Sotheby's Geneva, May 17th, 1984, lot 667, illustrated

Some enamel losses. Some chips to inside cover near edge. PInhole in shell handle.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This rare Nautilus cup shell carved in smoky quartz and set with gold, enameled mounts superbly demonstrates the unbounded curiosity and tireless eye of Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920), founder of the House of Fabergé.  Fueled by his study of the greatest works of European goldsmithing held in Dresden's well-known Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vaults) and Moscow's Kremlin Armory Chambers, Fabergé and his workmasters revived and reinterpreted a vast range of historical techniques and styles.

Those in the Renaissance style are the rarest and, like this delicate nautilus cup, were produced in the workshop of Michael Perchin (1860-1903).  Most are faithful adaptations of Renaissance jeweled objects such as the Renaissance Egg presented by Tsar Alexander III to his wife Maria Feodorovna on Easter 1894 and the Rock Crystal Egg with a Model of the Imperial Yacht Standard presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his wife Alexandra Feodorovna on Easter 1909.  Still more rare are objects informed by a modern taste and infused with Fabergé's well-known sense of humor.  The shape of this piece immediately recalls the unusually rich collection of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Nautilus shell cups, most of them diplomatic gifts to the Russian tsars, housed in the Kremlin's Armory Chambers.  Yet, the usual heavy mounts on historic pieces have here been replaced with lighter, more humorous adaptations of the grotesque masks ornamenting examples of English Renaissance silver in the Kremlin's collections, a detail that is already apparent in the designs for the piece (Christies, London, "Designs from the House of Carl Fabergé," April 27th, 1989, lot 408).

Fabergé had a particular fondness for the colored hardstones that formed an important part of Russia's gemological riches.  During the eighteenth century, Catherine the Great had sponsored scientific expeditions searching for previously unknown deposits of multilayered or multicolored stones in the Urals and Siberia that might lend themselves to decorative cutting.  She established new lapidary workshops to investigate the decorative possibilities offered by Siberian jaspers and agates as well as lapis lazuli from the Pamir Mountains.  Although the techniques had largely been forgotten by the late nineteenth century, Fabergé diligently sought out craftsmen who recognized the creative possibilities of materials like smoky quartz and could skillfully cut and polish the stone to bring out the full range of luminous colors locked within the material.  In the unparalleled stone cutting and the lively sea horses frolicking on this cup, we are offered a reminder of a rare aspect of a renowned master.