For any auctioneer, the pulse quickens when a genuine Fabergé item is brought into the saleroom.
Imagine the excitement at London auction house Elmwood’s (25% buyer’s premium) when 20 Fabergé hardstone animal carvings, embellished in jewels and precious metals, were unexpectedly consigned by a private British collector for what became a stand-alone auction on May 30, titled Fabergé Masterpieces – An Important Private Collection (see ATG No 2645).
Jewelled gold mounted jasper model of a hen, marked for Henrik Wigström, St Petersburg, c.1900, sold for £70,000 at Elmwood's.
Each fitting in the palm of your hand and pleasantly tactile in nature, every one unique (with only a few exceptions), these mini masterpieces were created by Fabergé in St Petersburg over a period of around 20 years, from c.1895.
Jewelled chalcedony pouter pigeon, unsigned, Harry Woolf Collection, £85,000 at Elmwood's.
The present owner amassed this collection very recently, buying from high-profile auction houses such as Lempertz, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and through dealers like Ruzhnikov and Wartski. His purchases were based on exceptional provenance, quality and condition, with each animal having a well-documented history.
Nephrite bear with diamond eyes, unsigned, £22,000 at Elmwood's.
Although rarely signed, hallmarks do occasionally occur on the gold beaks or feet, which invariably belong to Henrik Wigström. The few animals with Michael Perchin marks are exceptions to the rule. Given the quantity of fakes on the market, this was a good opportunity for serious collectors to competitively bid on an assemblage of this calibre.
Jewelled pink and white agate rabbit, unsigned, £92,000 at Elmwood's.
Source of inspiration
Fabergé’s primary inspiration for his menagerie were twofold: the European hardstone carvings he had encountered on the Grand Tour in Dresden and Florence (and in the Hermitage) and the late 19th century craze for all things Japanese, often referred to as Japonisme.
Fabergé was known to have possessed a collection of around 500 netsuke that he displayed in a cabinet in his St Petersburg apartment. These were to prove a constant source of inspiration, and some of his hardstone animals were direct copies of these Japanese belt toggles.
The collection at Elmwood’s included a prime example (pictured top). This jewelled obsidian carving of a dust-bathing sparrow in the Japanese taste, modelled after an ebony netsuke by the celebrated Tokyo carver Horaku, proved to be the showstopper.
A bidding war lasting over 10 minutes between two phone bidders was finally won by a Japanese collector at £420,000, far above its £40,000-60,000 estimate.
Favoured stone
Imperial jewelled gold mounted obsidian carrier pigeon, unsigned, £80,000 at Elmwood's.
Russian Obsidian was Fabergé’s favoured stone for seals, rats, buffaloes, horses and a variety of birds. He was always keen to showcase Russia’s native hardstones, demonstrating the richness of mineral deposits found in the Caucasus, Ural and Altai mountains.
Also carved in obsidian was a jewelled and gold-mounted model of a carrier pigeon, in its original wooden box, which hammered down to a European buyer for £100,000, doubling its pre-sale estimate of £30,000-50,000.
This price was helped by its imperial Russian provenance, gifted by Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia (1882-1960) to her aunt, Princess Thyra of Denmark, Duchess of Cumberland, for Christmas 1907.
Much of Fabergé’s work skilfully used the natural colours of the stone to mirror the feathers of a bird or the hide of a mammal. Typically, the lapidary work was subcontracted to Carl Woerffel, a stone-cutting atelier in St Petersburg and a main supplier of nephrite, agates, jasper, rhodonite and bowenite. The firm was acquired by Fabergé in 1915.
Jewelled bowenite hippo, Japanese taste, unsigned, £60,000 at Elmwood's.
Frogs, elephants, and bears were often made of polished bowenite, while various shades of agate were popular for dogs, cats, rabbits, koalas, anteaters, monkeys and mice.
Here a bowenite standing hippopotamus humorously carved in the Japanese taste was estimated at £30,000-50,000 and achieved £60,000, while a pink and white carved agate crouching rabbit, with pricked ears and a fluffy tail was bought by a UK collector for £92,000 against a guide of £35,000-55,000.
Jewelled honey agate hare, unsigned, £95,000 at Elmwood's.
A finely carved honey-hued agate hare with diamond eyes and in its original fitted Fabergé case generated competitive bidding between a phone and an online bidder.
It soon eclipsed its original estimate of £35,000-55,000, hammering at £95,000 to a US bidder.
Jewelled and gold mounted duckling, unsigned, £100,000 at Elmwood's.
A naturalistically carved agate duckling was originally owned by Emily Yznaga (sister of the Duchess of Manchester) and had been widely exhibited. Selling to a US buyer for £100,000 (against an estimate of £30,000-50,000), it had been acquired by the present owner for £75,000 from the renowned Harry Woolf collection sold at Christie’s in November 2021.
Imperial jewelled and gold mounted bowenite frog, Japanese taste, unsigned, £46,000 at Elmwood's.
European expansion
Fabergé’s clientele went far beyond the Russian aristocracy and when the firm opened a shop in London in 1903, the menagerie of hardstone carvings was tailored for a growing European clientele.
In the context of Edwardian extravagance, part of their appeal, observed Henry Bainbridge, Fabergé’s agent in London, was a relatively affordable price. Records show that many of the famous collection of 350 animals created for Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Sandringham were purchased for under £10 each (although some cost as much as £70).
Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920) himself said in a 1914 interview: “There are people who already have enough of diamond and pearls. Sometimes it is not even suitable to give jewellery as a present, but such a small thing is the right thing.”
Jewelled and silver and gold mounted honey coloured agate dormouse, unsigned, £115,000 at Elmwood's.
A particularly fine carving offered here with a European provenance was a life-sized agate dormouse, with cabochon blue sapphire eyes, delicate silver whiskers, nibbling realistically on gold threads of straw.
It was a gift to engineer Karl Wilhelm Hagelin (1860-1955) from Dr Emanuel Nobel (1859-1932), the Swedish oil baron instrumental in establishing the Nobel Prize. It sold to a UK buyer for £115,000 (estimate £80,000-120,000). However, in 2021 it had been acquired by the present owner for £200,000 at Christie’s.
Jewelled agate model of a nanny goat in striated agate, unsigned, sold for £85,000 at Elmwood's.
Remarkably buoyant
Verified authenticity and rigorous competitive bidding culminated in a white-glove sale and an impressive result for Elmwood’s, the auction achieving a premium-inclusive £2m against a pre-sale estimate of £1m.
Jewelled brown agate owl, unsigned, £32,000 at Elmwood's.
Clearly Fabergé continues to exert a powerful fascination for collectors worldwide, and despite the issues surrounding Russian art in the current climate, the market is remarkably buoyant.
