Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own | The Evening Sale
Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own | The Evening Sale
A jewelled gold-mounted agate vesta case, Moscow, circa 1890
Auction Closed
September 6, 08:20 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A Fabergé jewelled gold-mounted agate vesta case, Moscow, circa 1890
rectangular with curved edges, in the manner of a Japanese inro, the apricot-coloured agate body overlaid with a cagework of swirling iris leaves and flowers studded with diamonds, chased laurel border, rose-cut diamond thumb-piece, the base grooved for striking, struck KF in Cyrillic, 56 standard
height 5.2cm., 2 in.
Sotheby's Geneva, 16 May 1991, lot 259
Nothing screams luxury quite like Fabergé. Universally recognised for its famous Imperial Easter Eggs, the Fabergé firm nurtured some of the greatest craftsmen of all time and produced some of the most iconic and expertly crafted jewels and objects in modern history.
Peter Carl Fabergé was the creator of marvellous works epitomising creative genius and impeccable craftsmanship. The son of jeweller Gustav Fabergé, founder of the eponymous firm, Carl studied jewellery under his father’s guidance and, after further study in Frankfurt, Dresden and Florence, returned to St Petersburg to work at the Fabergé firm and eventually take over as manager at the young age of 24. Under his watchful eye, the careers of his workshop masters such as Henrik Wigström blossomed.
In the 1880s, Fabergé began receiving commissions from Emperor Alexander III for jewels and objets d’art - everyday objects from vesta cases (used to store and light matches) to photo frames transformed into luxurious works of art. As jeweller to the Imperial Russian court, Fabergé consequently gained international recognition and began furnishing the Danish, British and Thai monarchies with its masterpieces.
Eventually, wealthy individuals also became prominent patrons and collectors - most notably the Nobel and Rothschild families. The firm expanded to Moscow, London, Kyiv and Odessa, and began looking further afield for sources of inspiration such as Japan and the Art Nouveau.
What sets Fabergé apart from his contemporaries such as Cartier or Tiffany is unrivalled technical mastery and craftsmanship: each of Fabergé’s workmasters were highly specialised and the best in their field, ensuring the highest quality standards and a consistency throughout the firm’s output. Though his competitors tried to replicate Fabergé’s designs, they could not come close to the technical excellence and innovation of the House of Fabergé. After visits to Russia in 1904, 1905 and 1908, Cartier even produced a Russian-inspired range of hardstone and enamelled jewels and objects - including clocks based on this sale’s Fabergé nephrite and enamel example - with the help of Russian artisans.
Whilst Freddie Mercury never made it to Russia - famously saying “They wouldn’t let us into Russia. They thought we’d corrupt the youth or something” - it comes as no surprise that he would have sought his own collection of Fabergé treasures fit for the kings and queens of Europe and beyond.
Japonisme and Art Nouveau
From the 1630s, Japan had been under strict self-isolation especially in terms of trade, allowing only a limited number of Dutch and Chinese merchants to access the country via the island of Deshima. Through this route, a minute number of Japanese artefacts and cultural items had managed to surface in Europe. However, it wasn’t really until 1853 that Europe experienced a soft-launch of Japanese art, when a portion of silverware, bronze sculptures, lacquer and illustrated books was exhibited at the International Exhibition hosted in Dublin by the Dutch government.
It was at the London International Exhibition of 1862, however, that Japanese artwork truly entered the scene. The first Consul-General to Japan, Sir J. Rutherford Alcock (1809-1897), curated a selection of Japanese decorative arts to exhibit which exemplified the range of materials, styles and techniques employed in Japan at the time and in history. Five years later, Japan as a nation participated in the Exposition Universelle in Paris that year, hoping to dispel myths cast by Alcock’s collection - which Japan deemed a misrepresentation of their culture and artwork - and present a truer illustration of their cultural history.
Europe’s designers, artists, jewellers and craftsmen were enthralled by the range of artwork, as were collectors. As such, the continent experienced a wave in production executed in the Japanese style, also known as Japonisme (though the term itself was not coined until 1972 with the publication of Philippe Burty’s article in La Renaissance littéraire et artistique). The style had a heavy influence on Art Nouveau, which was gaining in popularity in Europe at the time, with craftsmen in every field turning to Japanese woodblock prints to learn from their use of composition, colour, line and technique.
The House of Fabergé was no exception - it excitedly joined the wave and began producing both objets d’art and jewels in this new style. These new pieces were popular with both the everyday client and European royalty: for a iris pendant executed in a similar style to the gold mounts of the present agate case purchased by Queen Alexandra, please see RCIN 14584 or C. de Guitaut, Fabergé in the Royal Collection, London, 2003, p. 191, no. 243.
References
Exhibition catalogue, Japonisme: From Falize to Fabergé, 10th - 20th May 2011
C. de Guitaut, Fabergé in the Royal Collection, London, 2003 Nadelhoffer, Cartier, London, 2007 Martin, From Japonisme to Art Nouveau, accessed online 15/05/2023, 13:08, pp. 30-38