Lot Essay
THE RECIPIENTS OF THE CLOCK
In 1865, Alexander II and his wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna (born Princess Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt) decided to marry the Tsarevich Nicholas to the vivacious daughter of King Charles IX of Denmark. The Princess Dagmar was noted for her sense of humour and highly social nature which compared favorably with that of her beautiful but somewhat shy sister, Princess Alexandra (later Queen Alexandra, wife of Edward VII of Great Britian). Princess Dagmar was engaged to the Tsarevich in late 1865, and went immediatly to Russia. Once there she converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name and title of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. Tragically, in 1866, the Tsarevich finally succumbed to tuberculosis while in Nice. However, that same year, Maria Feodorovna agreed to marry the new Tsarevich, Nicholas's brother, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich and their wedding took place on October 28th, 1866.
Perhaps surprisingly, the marriage turned out to be a strong one. The new Tsarevich and his wife moved into the Anichkov Palace on the Fontanka Canal in St. Petersburg and raised a stable and happy family. It maybe that the young couple's marriage was strengthened by their reaction to the scandal of Alexander II's relations with Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukaia. On the death of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna in 1880, Alexander II married the princess morganatically. At the time of his assassination, he was planning to have her crowned Empress.
Alexander III assumed the throne and, affected by the unrest caused by the reforms and liberalism which his father had tried so hard to achieve, he embarked on a more autocratic reign. In 1891, at the time of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna's twenty-fifth anniversary and tenth year on the throne, the Russian court was at its zenith and arguably was the most glittering court in late 19th century Europe.
THE DONORS OF THE CLOCK
For details of the various donors see Appendix on pages..........
THE ORDER FOR THE CLOCK
Described by Dr. Geza von Habsburg and Marina Lopato (Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, op cit., p.173) as "Fabergé's most important commission from the reign of Tsar Alexander III" this clock is not only a magnificent example of Fabergé's revival of the baroque style, it is also technically a tour de force of the silversmith's art. Leaving aside the occasional piece of silver-mounted furniture, the clock is one of the largest works of art produced by Fabergé.
The clock was ordered from Fabergé by Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich acting on behalf of 32 members of the Imperial Family as is shown in a letter recently discovered in the Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Fund in the Russian State Archives by Valentin V. Skurlov:
For the occasion of the 25th Wedding Anniversary of their Imperial Majesties, which took place on the 28th October last, his Imperial Highness Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich paid 18,585 roubles on behalf of the 32 Imperial Highnesses, for the gifts made for presentation to their Majesties, in the form of the following expenses:
Payment due to the jeweller Fabergé - for an oxidised* silver clock with the 25 cupids, jadeite* base, brilliant-cut diamond monogram AM, rose-cut diamond chapters roub. 15,000
Payment due to the artist Aubert - for the model of the clock
roub. 2,600
Payment due to the academician Benois - for executing the drawings of the clock roub. 600
Payment due to the sculptor Lapin - for the body of the clock including various decorations to be cast in silver roub. 250
Payment due to the modeller (lepchik) Dilev - for the making of the model, the form, and the four models of the case roub. 135
Total roub. 18,585
Consequently, 1/32 part of the above sum adds up to 580 roubles 78 kopeks. Dear Sir, I would kindly request you to remit to me the sum of 580 roubles 79 kopeks due as his Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich's share to be added to the sum paid to his Imperial Highness Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich.
I remain, dear Sir, your humble servant.
The signature is illegible, but it must be that of the steward and secretary to their Highnesses Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, Georgii Mikhailovich and Alexander Mikhailovich - N. I. Sheffers. The letter dated 1st November, 1891 was written from the Palace of the Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich on the Palace Embankment.
Similar letters were sent to the other donors by Sheffers. Records exist of the contributions of certain of the donors: Mikhail Nikolaevich (father of Georgii Mikhailovich) paid 725 roubles 97 kopeks, probably on behalf of his late wife, Olga Feodorovna. She had died in the summer of 1891, but was mentioned in the list of donors on the reverse of the clock. Dmitrii Konstantinovich paid 580 roubles 78 kopeks. Alexei Mikhailovich paid 643 roubles 1 kopek, (probably on behalf of his late mother Olga Feodorovna). Konstantin Konstantinovich paid 580 roubles 78 kopeks. Sergei Mikhailovich paid 580 roubles 79 kopeks.
The price of the clock, 18,585 roubles, is without doubt one of the highest ever paid by a member of the Imperial family to Fabergé. In the same year, Alexander III was only charged 4,500 roubles for the Imperial Pamiat Azova egg which he gave to the Empress Maria Feodorovna for Easter.
*Although described in the letter quoted above as oxidised, much of the oxidation on the clock had clearly been removed by cleaning as early as 1902 when a photograph of the piece (see p..........) shows it polished. The term jadeite may be a linguistic difference. In the case of the Winter Egg of 1913 (Christie's, Geneva, November 16, 1994 lot 464), for example what is today called rock crystal was described in the original account as white topaz. It has also been suggested by Valentin Skurlov that Fabergé may have so described it in order to charge for the more expensive material. In any event, the 1902 photograph clearly shows the same veining in the mineral as is present today.
THE ROLE OF CARL FABERGÉ AND MICHAEL PERCHIN
Tsar Alexander III and his wife were very supportive of Russian industries and the Arts. In 1882, the Imperial couple had "discovered" Fabergé at the Pan-Russian Industrial Exhibition in Moscow. The Fabergé firm displayed copies of the ancient gold treasures from Kertch. A contemporary press account says of the collection that it "attracted everybody's attention and was lauded by their Majesties. Her Majesty honored Fabergé by buying a pair of cufflinks with images of cicadas which, according to ancient Greek belief, bring luck". In 1885, Fabergé was awarded the title of "Supplier to the Imperial Court" after working since 1870 as an unpaid restorer and appraiser at the Hermitage. Also in 1885, he produced the first of the great series of Imperial Easter eggs for which the firm is best known. By 1890, he was appointed Appraiser of His Imperial Majesty's Cabinet and was receiving commissions from the Imperial Cabinet and the Imperial Family on a regular basis. The selection of Fabergé to make the present important anniversary gift for the ruling Emperor and his wife would seem by then to be the natural choice.
Franz Birbaum wrote in 1919 in his memoirs, The History of the House of Fabergé (1992, St. Petersburg translation op.cit.) that "presents given to the Emperor were much more interesting (than presents given by them) from an artistic point of view. I shall mention only a few of them which have stuck in my memory. The first is a silver mantel clock given to Alexander III by his family on the occasion of his silver wedding, with groups of flying cupids, twenty-five in all, surrounding the clock-face; the composition incorporated the gryphons of the Romanov emblem and the emblem itself. The wax model was fashioned by the sculptor Aubert, and the work was 1 arshin high."
In addition to this direct mention of the clock, the memoirs provide us with a picture of how Fabergé's business was structured. The Fabergé workshops in St. Petersburg were under the direction of Michael Perchin from 1886 till his death in 1903. It is clear that with commissions of such importance as the clock, Fabergé would have been closely involved from the moment he received the order for the clock from Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich. Fabergé presumably supplied Perchin with Benoit's designs and Perchin in turn would have worked with the sculptors Aubert, Lapin, the modeller Dilev, and anonymous silver chasers, jewellers and hardstone polishers to produce the finished work. The appearance of Perchin's scratch engraved signature (see p........) on the interior wall of the clock is a fascinating detail and, while his maker's mark appears on the reverse, it is the signature of Fabergé, and the designer and sculptor (see p.....) that take pride of place on the front.
THE DESIGNER
Tatiana Fabergé and Valentin Skurlov (op cit, p.64) in their commentaries on Birbaum's memoirs identify the designer Benoit as Leontii Nikolaevich Benois (1856-1928) who was a court architect. He was born in St. Petersburg and studied at the Architectural and Art Academy where he became a professor and, from 1903-1906, its rector. He is known to have designed a number of Orthodox churches including ones in Darmstadt and Hamburg. He also was the architect for Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovitch's Palace at Borshom in the Caucasus. It is interesting to note that the Grand Duke was one of the donors of the clock that Benois designed. Benois' architectural background is clearly reflected in his design for this monumental presentation clock. In addition, as has been observed by Valentin V. Skurlov, the academician Benois oversaw the restoration of the Anichkov Palace, the principal residence of Emperor Alexander III and the Empress Maria Feodorovna, in the 1890s.
THE SCULPTOR
The sculptor Aubert can be clearly identified with Artemii Lavrentievich Aubert (1843-1917), a fairly well-known Russian artist specializing in bronze animalier and figural groups whose work occasionally appears on the auction market. He was born in Moscow and exhibited frequently in St. Petersburg where in 1872, he won a medal for "The Lion and The Gazelle". He was a member of the Imperial Academy of the Beaux-Arts of St. Petersburg and in 1900 was again a prize winner at the important Exposition Universelle in Paris in which, incidentally, the Fabergé firm also had a major display. Aubert, according to Tatiana Fabergé and Valentin Skurlov (op cit, p.53), appears to have also worked for the Ovchinnikov and Sazikov firms to which he would have supplied models for casting. In addition, he worked with the Woerffel foundry and the sculptor Lanceray.
We are grateful for the information provided by Mr. Skurlov which indicates that Aubert was not the only sculptor involved in the production of the clock. Both Afrikan Vissarionovich Lapin and the modeller (lepchik) Konstantin Alekseevich Dilev contributed at different stages in the work on the clock.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CLOCK
The clock was first publicly exhibited at the von Dervise house on the English Quay in St. Petersburg in March 1902 and the newspaper Novoye Vremya (op cit) describes the pre-view of the exhibition Artistic Objects and Miniatures by Fabergé. On the 8th of March at 4pm, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and several members of the Imperial family arrived to see the exhibition, one room of which was entirely devoted to objects from the Imperial collection. Among these objects was "a silver mantlepiece clock with diamond-set hands, presented to the deceased Emperor Alexander III and the Empress Maria Feodorovna by Members of the Imperial Family for the 25th Anniversary of Their Majesties' wedding". The next day, the official opening of the exhibition was attended by Emperor Nicholas II, his wife, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, his mother the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and the heir to the throne. The Imperial party was attended by an entourage of family members, several of whom had contributed to the clock.
The magazine Niva (op cit) also covered the exhibition. "Although squeezed into a very limited space (it) features so many riches, so many marvellous, extraordinarily artistic objects that one could not know where to fix one's glance...The last room and part of the last but one are full of the works of art belonging to the Imperial Family. It is difficult to imagine anything more spectacular and at the same time exquisite....(in the room of works of art belonging to the Imperial family is) a mantlepiece silver clock with a diamond cypher on top of it and diamond hands. The clock is surrounded by cast putti". The cypher mentioned, which is now missing, is clearly visible in one of the 1902 photographs (see photograph on p.25) and in fact is an openwork foliate diamond-set monogram AM.
Following the exhibition, the clock was presumably returned to the Blue Study Room in the Anichkov Palace where it was catalogued by Baron Foelkersam (op cit) in his important catalogue of silver in the Imperial collections published in 1907. The entry in translation reads.
Anichkov Palace
cat. no. 495 Clock (in the Blue Study Room) engraved on the front L. Benoit del. Aulert (sic) sculps. Fabergé fec. 1891
It would seem probable that the clock remained at the Palace until the Revolution in 1917. According to Dr. Geza von Habsburg (Art and Auction, (March 1995), pp 94-7 and 128) around 1918-1919, the new government "started appropriating property from churches, monasteries, bank vaults and private households- including that of the Imperial family". The precious objects so removed were taken to the central repository, Goskhran (an acronym for the State Committee for the Care of Valuables) where "officials earmarked for possible sale to the West many of the objects they did not simply melt down".
By 1923, M.I. Lazerson had been given the job of classifying the confiscated art treasures and it is to him that we owe the survival of a great many works of art in precious metal, including many 16th and 17th century pieces of European silver presented to the Czars by foreign rulers and ambassadors, today one of the glories of the Kremlin Armory. Lazerson records in his memoirs An expert in the Service of the Soviet (London, 1929) that "confiscated silver, gold, precious stones and pearls and sequestered Church property had accumulated in the Goshkran in such enormous quantities as could hardly be imagined in the West". Among this vast array of treasure were some 842 pieces from the Orlov service made by Jacques-Nicholas Roettiers and other French silversmiths for Catherine the Great to give to her lover Count Grigor Orlov, which was subsequently sold to the West.
From 1923 onward, attempts were made to sell objects to, and in, the West. The first official public auction was at Christie's in London on March 16, 1927 and included some of the Russian crown jewels. This auction was followed by a considerable number, including, in 1928 and 1929 in Berlin, a sale of property entitled "Works of Art from Leningrad Museums and of the Hermitage, Michailov and Gatchina Palaces". It has been calculated that some thirty major auctions of literally thousands of tons of confiscated art were organized by the Soviet regime in the twenties and thirties (D. Likhachev and A.Mosiakin, "Sales", Ogon'ok, February 1990) many of which took place in Berlin. At the same time, private collectors such as the French Ambassador Jean Herbette and dealers such as Emmanuel Snowman and Armand Hammer were able to acquire major works of art by Fabergé and others on the Russian market. It is interesting to note the latter is known to have made several purchases of objects from the Anichkov Palace.
Christie's would like to thank the following for their help in the preparation of this catalogue.
Valentin V. Skurlov, Russia's leading Fabergé researcher, for locating and providing us with the text of the previously unrecorded letter from the archives of Grand Duke Nikolai Michailovich detailing the original cost of the clock. He also provided us with the photograph of the clock in 1902. In addition, he supplied us with information on the clock's designer Benois and the sculptors Aubert, Lapin and Dilev.
Dr. Geza von Habsburg who co-organized the 1993/1994 exhibition in which the clock was for the first time publicly on view since 1902. He generously allowed us access to, and to quote from, his unpublished notes on the clock and its donors. He also made available in the USA the "room-shots" of the 1902 exhibition.
Estimate: $800,000-1,600,000
APPENDIX
THE DONORS:
The Donors of the clock include all Emperor Alexander III's then living uncles and aunts, their respective spouses and their children, the Emperor's cousins.
1) GRAND DUKE KONSTANTIN NIKOLAIEVICH (1827-1892)
Uncle of Alexander III. Born in St. Petersburg, Grand Duke Konstantin was the son of the Emperor Nicholas I and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, née Princess Charlotte of Prussia.
2) GRAND DUCHESS ALEXANDRA IOSIFOVNA (1830-1911)
Wife of the above. Born Princess of Saxe-Altenburg, she took the name of Alexandra Iosifovna upon her conversion to Orthodoxy before her marriage to Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaievich of Russia. Amongst their children were Olga, Queen of the Hellenes and Grand Dukes Konstantin and Dmitri.
3) GRAND DUKE KONSTANTIN KONSTANTINOVICH (1858-1915)
Son of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He was Inspector of the Military Schools. He and his family lived mainly in the Marble Palace, St. Petersburg and the Pavlovsk Palace.
4) PRINCESS ELIZABETH OF SAXE-ALTENBURG, GRAND DUCHESS ELIZAVETA MAVRIKIEVNA (1865-1927)
Wife of the above. Daughter of H.H. Prince Maurice I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, Elizabeth married Grand Duke Konstantin in St. Petersburg in 1884. The couple had six sons and two daughters.
5) GRAND DUKE DMITRI KONSTANTINOVICH (1860-1919)
Youngest son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaievich and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna and first-cousin of Alexander III.
6) GRAND DUCHESS ALEXANDRA PETROVNA (1838-1900)
Widow of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich "The Elder", uncle of Alexander III. She was born Princess of Oldenburg. She remained in Russia following the death of her husband until her death in 1900.
7) GRAND DUKE NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH "The Younger" (1856-1929)
Son of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. Supreme Commander in Chief of the Russian Imperial Armies from 1914 until August 1915, and Viceroy of the Caucasus from 1915.
8) GRAND DUKE PETR NIKOLAIEVICH (1864-1931)
Younger brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. Born at Tsarskoye Selo, he married Princess Militsa of Montenegro in 1889 at Peterhof.
9) GRAND DUCHESS MILITSA NIKOLAIEVNA (1866-1951)
Wife of the above and daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro.
10) GRAND DUKE MIKHAIL NIKOLAIEVICH (1832-1909)
Youngest son of the Emperor Nicholas I and uncle of Alexander III. Born in St. Petersburg, he was married in 1857 to Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna, neé Princess Cecile of Baden. He died in Cannes in 1909.
11) GRAND DUCHESS OLGA FEODOROVNA (1839-1891)
Wife of the above. Neé Princess Cecile of Baden, she converted to Orthodoxy upon her marriage in 1857, and was thereafter known as Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna of Russia. She died in the summer of 1891 but her name is posthumously included among the list of donors on the clock.
12) GRAND DUKE NIKOLAI MIKHAILOVICH (1859-1919)
Son of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. Born at Tsarskoye Selo, he was General Field Marshal of the Russian Imperial Armies. In addition to his military duties, he served as President of the Imperial Geographic and Promological societies. He is known to have employed Leontii Benois as the architect for his palace in the Caucasus.
13) GRAND DUKE GEORGII MIKHAILOVICH (1863-1919)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He was married in 1900 to H.R.H. Princess Marie of the Hellenes, who became known as Grand Duchess Marie Georgievna of Russia. It was he who organized the payment for the clock.
14) GRAND DUKE ALEKSANDR MIKHAILOVICH (1866-1933)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He was a Vice-Admiral of the Russian Imperial navy. He married Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Alexander III at the Peterhof Palace in 1894.
15) GRAND DUKE SERGEI MIKHAILOVICH (1869-1918)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. Born at Barschom, he was a member of ten military regiments.
16) GRAND DUKE ALEXEI MIKHAILOVICH (1875-1895)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He died unmarried at the age of twenty in St. Petersburg.
17) GRAND DUCHESS OLGA NIKOLAIEVNA, LATER QUEEN OF WURTTEMBERG (1822-1892)
Daughter of Emperor Nicholas I and aunt of Alexander III. She was married to King Karl of Wurttemberg.
18) GRAND DUCHESS OLGA KONSTANTINOVNA, QUEEN OLGA OF THE HELLENES (1851-1926)
Daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich and first-cousin to Alexander III. Born at the Pavlovsk Palace, she married King George I of the Hellenes at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in 1867. She moved to Greece and lived there until 1913, when her husband was assassinated at Salonika. She returned to Russia, and lived there until the Revolution.
19) GRAND DUCHESS VERA KONSTANTINOVNA, DUCHESS OF WURTTEMBERG (1854-1912)
Sister of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. She also was born in St. Petersburg, and at the age of twenty she married Duke Eugene of Wurttemberg. Like all Russian Grand Duchesses, she was required to keep her Orthodox faith even after marriage, but after 35 years of marriage, finally converted to Lutheranism.
20) GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA MIKHAILOVNA, DUCHESS OF MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN (1866-1922)
Daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaievich and first-cousin of Alexander III. She married H.R.H. Duke Fredrich Franz III, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in St. Petersburg in 1879.
21) GRAND DUCHESS EKATERINA MIKHAILOVNA, DUCHESS DOWAGER OF MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ (1827-1894)
Daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, the brother of the Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I and great-uncle of Alexander III. Born in St. Petersburg, she married George Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1851. After the Duke's death, she returned to Russia with her children.
22) DUKE EVGENII MAXIMILIANOVICH OF LEUCHTENBERG (1847-1901)
Son of the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Nicholas I, and first-cousin of Alexander III. His mother refused to leave her family and Russia upon her marriage, and the Emperor Nicholas I built the Mariinsky Palace in St. Petersburg for them.
23) DUKE GEORGII MAXIMILIANOVICH OF LEUCHTENBERG (1852-1912)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He eventually succeeded his brother as 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg.
24) DUCHESS STANA (ANASTASIA) NIKOLAIEVNA OF LEUCHTENBERG (1867-1935)
Wife of the above and daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro. She married Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaievich "The Younger" in 1907 after the dissolution of her first marriage.
25) DUCHESS MARIA MAXIMILIANOVNA OF LEUCHTENBERG (1841-1925)
Daughter of the Duke of Leuchtenberg and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna and first-cousin of Alexander III. She married Wilhelm of Baden, and had two children: Princess Sophie who married Duke Friedrich II of Anhalt, and Prince Maxmilian, who married Princess Mary, the Princess Royal of Great Britian.
26) PRINCE ALEXANDER PETROVICH OF OLDENBURG (1844-1932)
Married to Princess Evgeniia of Leuchtenberg and first-cousin of Alexander III. He was an Aide-de-camp to Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II.
27) PRINCESS EVGENIIA MAXIMILIANOVNA OF LEUCHTENBERG (1845-1925)
Married to the above and first-cousin of Alexander III, she was the daughter of H.I.H. Prince Maximilian Romanovskii.
28) PRINCE PETR ALEXANDROVICH OF OLDENBURG (1868-1924)
Son of the above and nephew of Alexander III. He was Aide-de-camp to Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II. In 1901, he married the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of the Emperor Alexander III and sister of Emperor Nicholas II.
29) PRINCE KONSTANTIN PETROVICH OF OLDENBURG (1850-1906)
Brother of Prince Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg (see no.26 above).
30) DUKE GEORGII GEORGIEVICH OF MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ (1859-1909)
Son of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the former Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna (see no.21 above) and second-cousin of Alexander III.
31) DUKE MIKHAIL GEORGIEVICH OF MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ (1863-1934)
Brother of the above and second-cousin of Alexander III.
.
32) DUCHESS ELENA GEORGIEVNA OF MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ (1857-1936)
Sister of the above and second-cousin of Alexander III. She became the second wife of Prince Albert of Saxe-Altenburg in 1891 and lived partly in Mecklenburg-Strelitz and partly at her palace on Kamenii Ostrof in St. Petersburg.
In 1865, Alexander II and his wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna (born Princess Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt) decided to marry the Tsarevich Nicholas to the vivacious daughter of King Charles IX of Denmark. The Princess Dagmar was noted for her sense of humour and highly social nature which compared favorably with that of her beautiful but somewhat shy sister, Princess Alexandra (later Queen Alexandra, wife of Edward VII of Great Britian). Princess Dagmar was engaged to the Tsarevich in late 1865, and went immediatly to Russia. Once there she converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name and title of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. Tragically, in 1866, the Tsarevich finally succumbed to tuberculosis while in Nice. However, that same year, Maria Feodorovna agreed to marry the new Tsarevich, Nicholas's brother, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich and their wedding took place on October 28th, 1866.
Perhaps surprisingly, the marriage turned out to be a strong one. The new Tsarevich and his wife moved into the Anichkov Palace on the Fontanka Canal in St. Petersburg and raised a stable and happy family. It maybe that the young couple's marriage was strengthened by their reaction to the scandal of Alexander II's relations with Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukaia. On the death of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna in 1880, Alexander II married the princess morganatically. At the time of his assassination, he was planning to have her crowned Empress.
Alexander III assumed the throne and, affected by the unrest caused by the reforms and liberalism which his father had tried so hard to achieve, he embarked on a more autocratic reign. In 1891, at the time of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna's twenty-fifth anniversary and tenth year on the throne, the Russian court was at its zenith and arguably was the most glittering court in late 19th century Europe.
THE DONORS OF THE CLOCK
For details of the various donors see Appendix on pages..........
THE ORDER FOR THE CLOCK
Described by Dr. Geza von Habsburg and Marina Lopato (Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, op cit., p.173) as "Fabergé's most important commission from the reign of Tsar Alexander III" this clock is not only a magnificent example of Fabergé's revival of the baroque style, it is also technically a tour de force of the silversmith's art. Leaving aside the occasional piece of silver-mounted furniture, the clock is one of the largest works of art produced by Fabergé.
The clock was ordered from Fabergé by Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich acting on behalf of 32 members of the Imperial Family as is shown in a letter recently discovered in the Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Fund in the Russian State Archives by Valentin V. Skurlov:
For the occasion of the 25th Wedding Anniversary of their Imperial Majesties, which took place on the 28th October last, his Imperial Highness Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich paid 18,585 roubles on behalf of the 32 Imperial Highnesses, for the gifts made for presentation to their Majesties, in the form of the following expenses:
Payment due to the jeweller Fabergé - for an oxidised* silver clock with the 25 cupids, jadeite* base, brilliant-cut diamond monogram AM, rose-cut diamond chapters roub. 15,000
Payment due to the artist Aubert - for the model of the clock
roub. 2,600
Payment due to the academician Benois - for executing the drawings of the clock roub. 600
Payment due to the sculptor Lapin - for the body of the clock including various decorations to be cast in silver roub. 250
Payment due to the modeller (lepchik) Dilev - for the making of the model, the form, and the four models of the case roub. 135
Total roub. 18,585
Consequently, 1/32 part of the above sum adds up to 580 roubles 78 kopeks. Dear Sir, I would kindly request you to remit to me the sum of 580 roubles 79 kopeks due as his Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich's share to be added to the sum paid to his Imperial Highness Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich.
I remain, dear Sir, your humble servant.
The signature is illegible, but it must be that of the steward and secretary to their Highnesses Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, Georgii Mikhailovich and Alexander Mikhailovich - N. I. Sheffers. The letter dated 1st November, 1891 was written from the Palace of the Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich on the Palace Embankment.
Similar letters were sent to the other donors by Sheffers. Records exist of the contributions of certain of the donors: Mikhail Nikolaevich (father of Georgii Mikhailovich) paid 725 roubles 97 kopeks, probably on behalf of his late wife, Olga Feodorovna. She had died in the summer of 1891, but was mentioned in the list of donors on the reverse of the clock. Dmitrii Konstantinovich paid 580 roubles 78 kopeks. Alexei Mikhailovich paid 643 roubles 1 kopek, (probably on behalf of his late mother Olga Feodorovna). Konstantin Konstantinovich paid 580 roubles 78 kopeks. Sergei Mikhailovich paid 580 roubles 79 kopeks.
The price of the clock, 18,585 roubles, is without doubt one of the highest ever paid by a member of the Imperial family to Fabergé. In the same year, Alexander III was only charged 4,500 roubles for the Imperial Pamiat Azova egg which he gave to the Empress Maria Feodorovna for Easter.
*Although described in the letter quoted above as oxidised, much of the oxidation on the clock had clearly been removed by cleaning as early as 1902 when a photograph of the piece (see p..........) shows it polished. The term jadeite may be a linguistic difference. In the case of the Winter Egg of 1913 (Christie's, Geneva, November 16, 1994 lot 464), for example what is today called rock crystal was described in the original account as white topaz. It has also been suggested by Valentin Skurlov that Fabergé may have so described it in order to charge for the more expensive material. In any event, the 1902 photograph clearly shows the same veining in the mineral as is present today.
THE ROLE OF CARL FABERGÉ AND MICHAEL PERCHIN
Tsar Alexander III and his wife were very supportive of Russian industries and the Arts. In 1882, the Imperial couple had "discovered" Fabergé at the Pan-Russian Industrial Exhibition in Moscow. The Fabergé firm displayed copies of the ancient gold treasures from Kertch. A contemporary press account says of the collection that it "attracted everybody's attention and was lauded by their Majesties. Her Majesty honored Fabergé by buying a pair of cufflinks with images of cicadas which, according to ancient Greek belief, bring luck". In 1885, Fabergé was awarded the title of "Supplier to the Imperial Court" after working since 1870 as an unpaid restorer and appraiser at the Hermitage. Also in 1885, he produced the first of the great series of Imperial Easter eggs for which the firm is best known. By 1890, he was appointed Appraiser of His Imperial Majesty's Cabinet and was receiving commissions from the Imperial Cabinet and the Imperial Family on a regular basis. The selection of Fabergé to make the present important anniversary gift for the ruling Emperor and his wife would seem by then to be the natural choice.
Franz Birbaum wrote in 1919 in his memoirs, The History of the House of Fabergé (1992, St. Petersburg translation op.cit.) that "presents given to the Emperor were much more interesting (than presents given by them) from an artistic point of view. I shall mention only a few of them which have stuck in my memory. The first is a silver mantel clock given to Alexander III by his family on the occasion of his silver wedding, with groups of flying cupids, twenty-five in all, surrounding the clock-face; the composition incorporated the gryphons of the Romanov emblem and the emblem itself. The wax model was fashioned by the sculptor Aubert, and the work was 1 arshin high."
In addition to this direct mention of the clock, the memoirs provide us with a picture of how Fabergé's business was structured. The Fabergé workshops in St. Petersburg were under the direction of Michael Perchin from 1886 till his death in 1903. It is clear that with commissions of such importance as the clock, Fabergé would have been closely involved from the moment he received the order for the clock from Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich. Fabergé presumably supplied Perchin with Benoit's designs and Perchin in turn would have worked with the sculptors Aubert, Lapin, the modeller Dilev, and anonymous silver chasers, jewellers and hardstone polishers to produce the finished work. The appearance of Perchin's scratch engraved signature (see p........) on the interior wall of the clock is a fascinating detail and, while his maker's mark appears on the reverse, it is the signature of Fabergé, and the designer and sculptor (see p.....) that take pride of place on the front.
THE DESIGNER
Tatiana Fabergé and Valentin Skurlov (op cit, p.64) in their commentaries on Birbaum's memoirs identify the designer Benoit as Leontii Nikolaevich Benois (1856-1928) who was a court architect. He was born in St. Petersburg and studied at the Architectural and Art Academy where he became a professor and, from 1903-1906, its rector. He is known to have designed a number of Orthodox churches including ones in Darmstadt and Hamburg. He also was the architect for Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovitch's Palace at Borshom in the Caucasus. It is interesting to note that the Grand Duke was one of the donors of the clock that Benois designed. Benois' architectural background is clearly reflected in his design for this monumental presentation clock. In addition, as has been observed by Valentin V. Skurlov, the academician Benois oversaw the restoration of the Anichkov Palace, the principal residence of Emperor Alexander III and the Empress Maria Feodorovna, in the 1890s.
THE SCULPTOR
The sculptor Aubert can be clearly identified with Artemii Lavrentievich Aubert (1843-1917), a fairly well-known Russian artist specializing in bronze animalier and figural groups whose work occasionally appears on the auction market. He was born in Moscow and exhibited frequently in St. Petersburg where in 1872, he won a medal for "The Lion and The Gazelle". He was a member of the Imperial Academy of the Beaux-Arts of St. Petersburg and in 1900 was again a prize winner at the important Exposition Universelle in Paris in which, incidentally, the Fabergé firm also had a major display. Aubert, according to Tatiana Fabergé and Valentin Skurlov (op cit, p.53), appears to have also worked for the Ovchinnikov and Sazikov firms to which he would have supplied models for casting. In addition, he worked with the Woerffel foundry and the sculptor Lanceray.
We are grateful for the information provided by Mr. Skurlov which indicates that Aubert was not the only sculptor involved in the production of the clock. Both Afrikan Vissarionovich Lapin and the modeller (lepchik) Konstantin Alekseevich Dilev contributed at different stages in the work on the clock.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CLOCK
The clock was first publicly exhibited at the von Dervise house on the English Quay in St. Petersburg in March 1902 and the newspaper Novoye Vremya (op cit) describes the pre-view of the exhibition Artistic Objects and Miniatures by Fabergé. On the 8th of March at 4pm, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and several members of the Imperial family arrived to see the exhibition, one room of which was entirely devoted to objects from the Imperial collection. Among these objects was "a silver mantlepiece clock with diamond-set hands, presented to the deceased Emperor Alexander III and the Empress Maria Feodorovna by Members of the Imperial Family for the 25th Anniversary of Their Majesties' wedding". The next day, the official opening of the exhibition was attended by Emperor Nicholas II, his wife, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, his mother the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and the heir to the throne. The Imperial party was attended by an entourage of family members, several of whom had contributed to the clock.
The magazine Niva (op cit) also covered the exhibition. "Although squeezed into a very limited space (it) features so many riches, so many marvellous, extraordinarily artistic objects that one could not know where to fix one's glance...The last room and part of the last but one are full of the works of art belonging to the Imperial Family. It is difficult to imagine anything more spectacular and at the same time exquisite....(in the room of works of art belonging to the Imperial family is) a mantlepiece silver clock with a diamond cypher on top of it and diamond hands. The clock is surrounded by cast putti". The cypher mentioned, which is now missing, is clearly visible in one of the 1902 photographs (see photograph on p.25) and in fact is an openwork foliate diamond-set monogram AM.
Following the exhibition, the clock was presumably returned to the Blue Study Room in the Anichkov Palace where it was catalogued by Baron Foelkersam (op cit) in his important catalogue of silver in the Imperial collections published in 1907. The entry in translation reads.
Anichkov Palace
cat. no. 495 Clock (in the Blue Study Room) engraved on the front L. Benoit del. Aulert (sic) sculps. Fabergé fec. 1891
It would seem probable that the clock remained at the Palace until the Revolution in 1917. According to Dr. Geza von Habsburg (Art and Auction, (March 1995), pp 94-7 and 128) around 1918-1919, the new government "started appropriating property from churches, monasteries, bank vaults and private households- including that of the Imperial family". The precious objects so removed were taken to the central repository, Goskhran (an acronym for the State Committee for the Care of Valuables) where "officials earmarked for possible sale to the West many of the objects they did not simply melt down".
By 1923, M.I. Lazerson had been given the job of classifying the confiscated art treasures and it is to him that we owe the survival of a great many works of art in precious metal, including many 16th and 17th century pieces of European silver presented to the Czars by foreign rulers and ambassadors, today one of the glories of the Kremlin Armory. Lazerson records in his memoirs An expert in the Service of the Soviet (London, 1929) that "confiscated silver, gold, precious stones and pearls and sequestered Church property had accumulated in the Goshkran in such enormous quantities as could hardly be imagined in the West". Among this vast array of treasure were some 842 pieces from the Orlov service made by Jacques-Nicholas Roettiers and other French silversmiths for Catherine the Great to give to her lover Count Grigor Orlov, which was subsequently sold to the West.
From 1923 onward, attempts were made to sell objects to, and in, the West. The first official public auction was at Christie's in London on March 16, 1927 and included some of the Russian crown jewels. This auction was followed by a considerable number, including, in 1928 and 1929 in Berlin, a sale of property entitled "Works of Art from Leningrad Museums and of the Hermitage, Michailov and Gatchina Palaces". It has been calculated that some thirty major auctions of literally thousands of tons of confiscated art were organized by the Soviet regime in the twenties and thirties (D. Likhachev and A.Mosiakin, "Sales", Ogon'ok, February 1990) many of which took place in Berlin. At the same time, private collectors such as the French Ambassador Jean Herbette and dealers such as Emmanuel Snowman and Armand Hammer were able to acquire major works of art by Fabergé and others on the Russian market. It is interesting to note the latter is known to have made several purchases of objects from the Anichkov Palace.
Christie's would like to thank the following for their help in the preparation of this catalogue.
Valentin V. Skurlov, Russia's leading Fabergé researcher, for locating and providing us with the text of the previously unrecorded letter from the archives of Grand Duke Nikolai Michailovich detailing the original cost of the clock. He also provided us with the photograph of the clock in 1902. In addition, he supplied us with information on the clock's designer Benois and the sculptors Aubert, Lapin and Dilev.
Dr. Geza von Habsburg who co-organized the 1993/1994 exhibition in which the clock was for the first time publicly on view since 1902. He generously allowed us access to, and to quote from, his unpublished notes on the clock and its donors. He also made available in the USA the "room-shots" of the 1902 exhibition.
Estimate: $800,000-1,600,000
APPENDIX
THE DONORS:
The Donors of the clock include all Emperor Alexander III's then living uncles and aunts, their respective spouses and their children, the Emperor's cousins.
1) GRAND DUKE KONSTANTIN NIKOLAIEVICH (1827-1892)
Uncle of Alexander III. Born in St. Petersburg, Grand Duke Konstantin was the son of the Emperor Nicholas I and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, née Princess Charlotte of Prussia.
2) GRAND DUCHESS ALEXANDRA IOSIFOVNA (1830-1911)
Wife of the above. Born Princess of Saxe-Altenburg, she took the name of Alexandra Iosifovna upon her conversion to Orthodoxy before her marriage to Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaievich of Russia. Amongst their children were Olga, Queen of the Hellenes and Grand Dukes Konstantin and Dmitri.
3) GRAND DUKE KONSTANTIN KONSTANTINOVICH (1858-1915)
Son of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He was Inspector of the Military Schools. He and his family lived mainly in the Marble Palace, St. Petersburg and the Pavlovsk Palace.
4) PRINCESS ELIZABETH OF SAXE-ALTENBURG, GRAND DUCHESS ELIZAVETA MAVRIKIEVNA (1865-1927)
Wife of the above. Daughter of H.H. Prince Maurice I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, Elizabeth married Grand Duke Konstantin in St. Petersburg in 1884. The couple had six sons and two daughters.
5) GRAND DUKE DMITRI KONSTANTINOVICH (1860-1919)
Youngest son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaievich and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna and first-cousin of Alexander III.
6) GRAND DUCHESS ALEXANDRA PETROVNA (1838-1900)
Widow of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich "The Elder", uncle of Alexander III. She was born Princess of Oldenburg. She remained in Russia following the death of her husband until her death in 1900.
7) GRAND DUKE NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH "The Younger" (1856-1929)
Son of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. Supreme Commander in Chief of the Russian Imperial Armies from 1914 until August 1915, and Viceroy of the Caucasus from 1915.
8) GRAND DUKE PETR NIKOLAIEVICH (1864-1931)
Younger brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. Born at Tsarskoye Selo, he married Princess Militsa of Montenegro in 1889 at Peterhof.
9) GRAND DUCHESS MILITSA NIKOLAIEVNA (1866-1951)
Wife of the above and daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro.
10) GRAND DUKE MIKHAIL NIKOLAIEVICH (1832-1909)
Youngest son of the Emperor Nicholas I and uncle of Alexander III. Born in St. Petersburg, he was married in 1857 to Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna, neé Princess Cecile of Baden. He died in Cannes in 1909.
11) GRAND DUCHESS OLGA FEODOROVNA (1839-1891)
Wife of the above. Neé Princess Cecile of Baden, she converted to Orthodoxy upon her marriage in 1857, and was thereafter known as Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna of Russia. She died in the summer of 1891 but her name is posthumously included among the list of donors on the clock.
12) GRAND DUKE NIKOLAI MIKHAILOVICH (1859-1919)
Son of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. Born at Tsarskoye Selo, he was General Field Marshal of the Russian Imperial Armies. In addition to his military duties, he served as President of the Imperial Geographic and Promological societies. He is known to have employed Leontii Benois as the architect for his palace in the Caucasus.
13) GRAND DUKE GEORGII MIKHAILOVICH (1863-1919)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He was married in 1900 to H.R.H. Princess Marie of the Hellenes, who became known as Grand Duchess Marie Georgievna of Russia. It was he who organized the payment for the clock.
14) GRAND DUKE ALEKSANDR MIKHAILOVICH (1866-1933)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He was a Vice-Admiral of the Russian Imperial navy. He married Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Alexander III at the Peterhof Palace in 1894.
15) GRAND DUKE SERGEI MIKHAILOVICH (1869-1918)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. Born at Barschom, he was a member of ten military regiments.
16) GRAND DUKE ALEXEI MIKHAILOVICH (1875-1895)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He died unmarried at the age of twenty in St. Petersburg.
17) GRAND DUCHESS OLGA NIKOLAIEVNA, LATER QUEEN OF WURTTEMBERG (1822-1892)
Daughter of Emperor Nicholas I and aunt of Alexander III. She was married to King Karl of Wurttemberg.
18) GRAND DUCHESS OLGA KONSTANTINOVNA, QUEEN OLGA OF THE HELLENES (1851-1926)
Daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich and first-cousin to Alexander III. Born at the Pavlovsk Palace, she married King George I of the Hellenes at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in 1867. She moved to Greece and lived there until 1913, when her husband was assassinated at Salonika. She returned to Russia, and lived there until the Revolution.
19) GRAND DUCHESS VERA KONSTANTINOVNA, DUCHESS OF WURTTEMBERG (1854-1912)
Sister of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. She also was born in St. Petersburg, and at the age of twenty she married Duke Eugene of Wurttemberg. Like all Russian Grand Duchesses, she was required to keep her Orthodox faith even after marriage, but after 35 years of marriage, finally converted to Lutheranism.
20) GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA MIKHAILOVNA, DUCHESS OF MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN (1866-1922)
Daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaievich and first-cousin of Alexander III. She married H.R.H. Duke Fredrich Franz III, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in St. Petersburg in 1879.
21) GRAND DUCHESS EKATERINA MIKHAILOVNA, DUCHESS DOWAGER OF MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ (1827-1894)
Daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, the brother of the Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I and great-uncle of Alexander III. Born in St. Petersburg, she married George Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1851. After the Duke's death, she returned to Russia with her children.
22) DUKE EVGENII MAXIMILIANOVICH OF LEUCHTENBERG (1847-1901)
Son of the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Nicholas I, and first-cousin of Alexander III. His mother refused to leave her family and Russia upon her marriage, and the Emperor Nicholas I built the Mariinsky Palace in St. Petersburg for them.
23) DUKE GEORGII MAXIMILIANOVICH OF LEUCHTENBERG (1852-1912)
Brother of the above and first-cousin of Alexander III. He eventually succeeded his brother as 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg.
24) DUCHESS STANA (ANASTASIA) NIKOLAIEVNA OF LEUCHTENBERG (1867-1935)
Wife of the above and daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro. She married Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaievich "The Younger" in 1907 after the dissolution of her first marriage.
25) DUCHESS MARIA MAXIMILIANOVNA OF LEUCHTENBERG (1841-1925)
Daughter of the Duke of Leuchtenberg and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna and first-cousin of Alexander III. She married Wilhelm of Baden, and had two children: Princess Sophie who married Duke Friedrich II of Anhalt, and Prince Maxmilian, who married Princess Mary, the Princess Royal of Great Britian.
26) PRINCE ALEXANDER PETROVICH OF OLDENBURG (1844-1932)
Married to Princess Evgeniia of Leuchtenberg and first-cousin of Alexander III. He was an Aide-de-camp to Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II.
27) PRINCESS EVGENIIA MAXIMILIANOVNA OF LEUCHTENBERG (1845-1925)
Married to the above and first-cousin of Alexander III, she was the daughter of H.I.H. Prince Maximilian Romanovskii.
28) PRINCE PETR ALEXANDROVICH OF OLDENBURG (1868-1924)
Son of the above and nephew of Alexander III. He was Aide-de-camp to Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II. In 1901, he married the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of the Emperor Alexander III and sister of Emperor Nicholas II.
29) PRINCE KONSTANTIN PETROVICH OF OLDENBURG (1850-1906)
Brother of Prince Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg (see no.26 above).
30) DUKE GEORGII GEORGIEVICH OF MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ (1859-1909)
Son of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the former Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna (see no.21 above) and second-cousin of Alexander III.
31) DUKE MIKHAIL GEORGIEVICH OF MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ (1863-1934)
Brother of the above and second-cousin of Alexander III.
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32) DUCHESS ELENA GEORGIEVNA OF MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ (1857-1936)
Sister of the above and second-cousin of Alexander III. She became the second wife of Prince Albert of Saxe-Altenburg in 1891 and lived partly in Mecklenburg-Strelitz and partly at her palace on Kamenii Ostrof in St. Petersburg.