Daria Khristova nee Chernenko
Department Director
Property from a distinguished private collection
Lot 93*
A jewelled gold, nephrite and rock crystal lily of the valley studyFabergé, St. Petersburg, circa 1900
height: 13cm (5 1/8in).
height: 13cm (5 1/8in).
4 June 2014, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£200,000 - £300,000
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A jewelled gold, nephrite and rock crystal lily of the valley study
Fabergé, St. Petersburg, circa 1900
in a cylindrical rock-crystal vase, with a carved nephrite leaf issuing a gold stem suspending seven pearls of varied size simulating buds, five mounted with platinum petals set with rose-cut diamonds imitating dew drops; in fitted Wartski presentation case
height: 13cm (5 1/8in).
in a cylindrical rock-crystal vase, with a carved nephrite leaf issuing a gold stem suspending seven pearls of varied size simulating buds, five mounted with platinum petals set with rose-cut diamonds imitating dew drops; in fitted Wartski presentation case
height: 13cm (5 1/8in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Purchased at Wartski by private collectors
Thence by descent
The production of Fabergé's approximately eighty flower studies was a collaborative effort involving a variety of skilled artists at the firm from early designs, apparently executed by Carl Fabergé himself, to jewellery, stone carving, and gold work. They were exhibited as early as the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition in Moscow in 1882 where the combination of materials and use of native hard stones would have delighted visitors.
Fabergé flower studies were cherished within the Imperial family with lilies of the valley finding particular favour with Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. Similar examples are also preserved in the Royal Collection of Fabergé, formerly belonging to Princess Victoria and Queen Alexandra. The Victorian aristocracy would have been conversant with the language of flowers and the lily of the valley held special meaning with its ties to May, bridal purity, and as a first sign of spring following a seemingly endless Russian winter.