Grand Duke George Alexandrovich: an imperial Fabergé gold, guilloché enamel and seed pearl miniature photograph frame, workmaster Michael Perkhin, St Petersburg, circa 1890

Restricted SpeciesVAT applies to hammer price and buyer's premium

Lot Closed

May 13, 10:01 AM GMT

Estimate

15,000 - 25,000 CHF

Lot Details

Description

in the form of a Star of David, the three pink panels with sunburst engine turning, the white panels with chevron engine turning, the bezel set with seed pearls, in a fitted Wartski case, with a mammoth ivory reverse, struck to the lower edge and strut with workmaster's initials and Fabergé in Cyrillic, 56 standard, scratched inventory number 55134 and further later scratched numbers

7 cm, 2 3/4 in. high

Endangered species

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Purchased by Grand Duke George Alexandrovich from the Fabergé St Petersburg branch on 7th January 1897 for 120 roubles

Gosudarstvennyi muzei-zapovednik Pavlovsk: Polnyi katalog kollektsii, vol. IX, p. 159

Exhibition catalogue, ed. A.K. Snowman, Fabergé, 1846-1920, 1977, p. 116

A.K. Snowman, Carl Fabergé: Goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia, London, 1979, p. 138, illustrated

London, Victoria & Albert Museum, Fabergé, 1846-1920, 23 June – 25 September 1977, case R, no. R3

With it's fine engine-turning and striking two-toned guilloché enamel, its expertly executed goldwork and perfect proportions, it comes as no surprise that the present frame was made for royalty. As evidenced by in the Pavlovsk Palace Inventory, this beautifully crafted frame was originally purchased by the Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia, the third son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna.

It is very possible that the Grand Duke was inspired to purchase this frame due to an admiration of a highly similar frame owned by his uncle and aunt, Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, which they had purchased a mere couple of weeks earlier: the Emperor and Empress's frame bears the scratched number 55135, and was purchased on 19 December 1896, whilst the Grand Duke's frame, which bears the number 55134, was purchased on 7 January 1897:

The frame, containing a photograph of the young Grand Duchess Tatiana, is now held in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, having been bequeathed by Lillian Thomas Pratt (see

here). According to the inventory kept by the commandant of the Soviet soldiers who had held the imperial family hostage in Ekaterinburg, this frame was amongst their personal possessions at their time of death.

The present frame was purchased only two years before the Grand Duke's tragically premature death in 1899. It had appeared in the public eye in 1977, included in the Victoria & Albert Museum's Jubilee Exhibition of Fabergé, held in 1977, though the provenance was not recorded in the exhibition catalogue.

Catalogue note