A Fabergé silver-gilt, enamel and hardstone bellpush, workmaster Michael Perchin, St Petersburg, 1899-1903

in Japonesque taste, the moonstone pushpiece centred within an enamel plaque painted en plein with white lilies at sunrise over Mount Fuji, the border with leaf scrolls, ribbons and fir cones, the rectangular white chalcedony base with cut corners and ogee edge, struck with workmaster's initials and Fabergé in Cyrillic, the base plaque with scratched inventory number 1933

Sotheby's Geneva, 16-17 November 1998, lot 323

Excellent condition. The gilding worn slightly to the mounts and to the silver on the underside of the feet. The corners of the stone base with very small chips, one small chip in the centre of the top lower edge and one small chip to the right hand upper edge.
"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."

This enamelling, of Japonesque foliage within cloisons on a pink-graduating-to-yellow ground suggesting a dawn sky, is of a rare type seen on objects by Perchin and Victor Aarne and produced for a limited time circa 1900, before Russia's conflict with Japan made Japonisme less fashionable.

Similar works by Aarne tend to be more elaborate, including a clock enamelled on a ground engine-turned with a rising sun, illustrated, G. Von Habsburg, Faberge: Imperial Craftsman and His World, 2000, p.276; and another clock, Sotheby's Geneva, 16-17 November 1998, lot 322.  Compare also with the Aarne frame, enamelled with three swallows flying above bulrushes, Sotheby's Geneva, 15 November 1995, lot 543.