A Rare Fabergé Gilded Silver and Matt Enamel Bird-Shaped Kovsh, Moscow, circa 1900

of bird form, in matt enamel, with varicolored feathers trailing from stylized tulips against a blue ground, the breast and eyes set with red hardstones en cabochon, with multicolored crest and gilded beak, the interior gilded, raised on an oval foot

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, March 23 and 24, 1971, lot 167.

some enamel losses and repairs, primarily at the "shoulders" of the piece
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 and unusual kovsh is one of the few examples of a Fabergé piece finished entirely with matt enamels. While Fabergé's St. Petersburg workshops were noted for developing an enormous range of translucent and opalescent enamel colors inspired by various western European jewelers and enamelers, artisans in the Moscow workshops looked to Russian traditions such as enamels produced in 17th-century Usolsk and Solvychegodsk and traditional forms such as the kovsh or bratina. As Tatiana Fabergé has noted, matt enamel was employed only in objects made in Moscow and then only as border or background. (See, for example, the silver tea caddy with a blue matt enamel ground made in the Moscow workshops circa 1910, Sotheby's, London, June 10, 2009, lot 540.) This bird-form kovsh is one of very few examples of a piece rendered in a rich range of colors and with areas of shading that, instead of being polished to a high gloss, were rendered matt through exposure to hydroflouric acid. The resulting surface resembles an unglazed ceramic body as well as some of the ceramic and wood pieces in the modern style mounted in gold and silver at the Moscow workshops. For more on this subject, see Tatiana Fabergé, "Peter Carl Fabergé," in Enamels of the World, 1700-2000: The Khalili Collections, London, 2009, p. 380.