Russian Works of Art, Fabergé and Icons

Russian Works of Art, Fabergé and Icons

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 344.  A Fabergé jewelled gold, enamel and rock crystal study of a cornflower, St Petersburg, circa 1900.

A Fabergé jewelled gold, enamel and rock crystal study of a cornflower, St Petersburg, circa 1900

Auction Closed

November 26, 06:32 PM GMT

Estimate

100,000 - 150,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

A Fabergé jewelled gold, enamel and rock crystal study of a cornflower, St Petersburg, circa 1900


formed as a single flower with two leaves, the petals enamelled in vivid royal blue, the stamens set with rose-cut diamonds, finely engraved bud, stem and leaves, resting in a tapering rock crystal pot, apparently unmarked

height 15.9cm, 6¼in.

Christie's New York, 19 October 2001, lot 163

Employing a range of artists across Fabergé’s workshop, from stone-cutters to gem-setters, flowers such as the present cornflower are a lasting testimony to the diversity and ingenuity of the firm. The process of making these flowers, from the cutting of the vase in rock crystal to the setting of diamonds on fine gold threads to create the stamen, was a lengthy and thoughtful one. Enamelled petals, like those on the present study, were employed when no natural material of suitable colour or hardness existed to emulate the flower. The enamelling of the delicate cornflower petals of the present study was most likely carried out by Fabergé’s master enameller, Nikolai Alexandrovich Petrov, with the assistance of his brother Dimitri. Given the intricacy of each petal and the curving of its surface, great skill was required to achieve the perfect layered hue (M. Pfeifer Swezey et. al., Fabergé Flowers, New York, 2004, pp. 71-72).


As the present lot reflects, simpler meadow flowers were often favoured by Fabergé’s clientele to elaborate blooms. The present study is an elegant and very modern representation of a single cornflower bud. For a related model of a cornflower with three buds and green enamelled leaves, please see exhibition catalogue, Fabergé: A Loan Exhibition for the benefit of The Cooper-Hewitt Museum, The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Design, New York, A La Vieille Russie, 1983, p. 127 and p. 129, no. 471. For a further related example of a single cornflower bud by Fabergé, please see G. von Habsburg, Fabergé - Cartier, Rivalen am Zarenhof, Munich, 2003, pp. 258-259, no. 381.