Highlights from the Russian Pictures and Works of Art Sales

MATTHEW D MEIER

Nikolai Fechin, Portrait of Nadezhda Sapozhnikova, 1908
Estimate: £1,200,000–1,800,000

Painted in 1908 in the artist’s native Kazan, this early masterpiece depicts Fechin’s friend, patron and student Nadezhda Sapozhnikova, who was the most influential figure at the outset of the artist’s career. This portrait was one of two works Fechin selected for the 1910 Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh where it was bought by an American collector. It has remained in the United States ever since and is now being sold to benefit the acquisition fund of the San Diego Museum of Art.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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Alexandra Exter, Carnival in Venice, 1930s
Estimate: £180,000–250,000

A highlight of the Russian Pictures sale will be a collection of 14 works by Alexandra Exter from the heirs of Ihnno Ezratty, executor of the artist’s estate and a friend during her years in Paris. Closely affiliated with the Italian Futurists before the Revolution, Venice and the Commedia dell’arte were themes to which she returned throughout her career.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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Vasily Rozhdestvensky, Summer Landscape, 1920
Estimate: £200,000–300,000

Rozhdestvensky was perhaps the most elusive member of the Cézanne-influenced Knave of Diamonds group and most of his works are now held in museum collections. This makes the appearance on the market of not one but two landscapes (lots 46 and 47), both previously in the collection of financier Alexander Konstantinovsky, all the more exciting for collectors of this period.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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Activists (Students of the Workers' Faculty): A Soviet porcelain figural group, Lomonosov Porcelain Factory, Leningrad, circa 1930. Estimate: £15,000–25,000

From an Important European Collection of Soviet Porcelain, this figural group was modelled by the famed porcelain artist Natalia Danko. The idealised students are members of the Komsomol, or Communist Union of Young People.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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A Fabergé silver and enamel cigarette case, Moscow, 1899-1908
Estimate: £30,000–50,000

This rare Japanese-inspired Fabergé case once belonged to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. It first sold in Sotheby’s landmark ‘Romanov Heirlooms’ auction in 2009, following its discovery in a pillow case.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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Jasper "Yogi" Gough

A Fabergé jewelled gold and silver-gilt mounted enamel and hardstone barometer, workmaster Hjalmar Armfelt, St Petersburg, 1904-1908. Estimate: £180,000–250,000

An exceptional example of Fabergé turning a scientific instrument into a luxurious work of art, this barometer was made in the workshops of Hjalmar Armfelt, who had only recently taken over the workshops of Victor Aarne.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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A jewelled gold and silver Maid of Honour cypher, Carl Blank, St Petersburg, circa 1913. Estimate: £40,000–60,000

This cypher is recorded in the Imperial ledgers as being presented to Baroness Elizabeth von Hoyningen-Huene on 11 February 1914, just months before the start of the First World War. The baroness later became a fashion designer.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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Drum Major and Flagbearer of the Sailors of the Guards: A porcelain military plate, Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, St Petersburg, period of Nicholas I, dated 1830. Estimate: £32,000–45,000

Military porcelain plates produced during the reign of Emperor Nicolas I in the 1830s are hugely popular with collectors. This rare example is painted with sailors, rather than the more usual army officers and soldiers.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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A gem-set silver presentation cup and cover, Morozov, Petrograd, dated 1917
Estimate: £22,000–28,000

The Petrograd Duma gave this cup to French politician Gaston Doumergue just days before the outbreak of the February Revolution in 1917, which brought about the end of the Romanov Dynasty. During his time in Russia, Doumergue met with both Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra.

Russian Pictures
28 November 2017 | London

Russian Works of Art
28 November 2017 | London

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