A Fabergé silver and pictorial enamel box, workmaster Julius Rappoport, St Petersburg, 1899-1904

rectangular, the hinged lid inset with a plaque painted en plein after Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks by Ilya Repin, the sides applied with opposing griffins within anthemion and laurel borders, lion paw feet, gilt interior, struck with workmaster's initials and Fabergé in Cyrillic beneath the Imperial Warrant, 88 standard

Excellent condition, the enamel surface with very minor firing flaws, some of which visible in the catalogue photograph. The base with faint scratches.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The ruthless suppression of various rebellions and insurrections throughout Bulgaria and Bosnia & Herzegovina by the Ottoman Empire between 1875 and 1877 served to stoke popular opinion within Russia towards intervention in the region, ostentatiously on behalf of the Christian community therein. A fortified presence in the Balkans had long been high on the agenda of Russian foreign policy with Peter I and Catherine II seeking a greater hand in Mediterranean trade and naval superiority by undermining Ottoman hegemony in the Balkans, much to the concern of other European powers.

Politicised art works such as Repin’s Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, completed in 1891, were well received before and after the decisive victory of the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish war. Alexander III purchased the two metre wide original and the ruling classes followed suit by gladly consuming luxury items such as the present lot from Fabergé. The scene itself depicts the composition of a particularly vulgar and mocking letter drafted to Sultan Mehmed IV by a Cossack army in 1676 following his self-aggrandising demands for surrender, that addressed him as the ‘swineherd of Egypt’ and the ‘sow of Armenia’.