Lot 218
218
AN IMPRESSIVE CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L’OEIL CAVIAR SET
AN IMPRESSIVE CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L’OEIL CAVIAR SET
AN IMPRESSIVE CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L’OEIL CAVIAR SET
2 More
AN IMPRESSIVE CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L’OEIL CAVIAR SET
5 More
These lots have been imported from outside the EU … Read more PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ITALIAN COLLECTION
AN IMPRESSIVE CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L’OEIL CAVIAR SET

MARKED P. OVCHINNIKOV WITH IMPERIAL WARRANT, MOSCOW, 1870

Details
AN IMPRESSIVE CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL PARCEL-GILT SILVER TROMPE L’OEIL CAVIAR SET
MARKED P. OVCHINNIKOV WITH IMPERIAL WARRANT, MOSCOW, 1870
Comprising a bowl, cover, stand, and two spoons; the detachable trompe l'oeil cover realistically cast and very finely chased as a draped cloth, cloisonné enamelled in blue and red simulating embroidered bands, the bowl, stand and spoons cloisonné enamelled with geometric motifs in red, blue, turquoise and white, marked throughout; in the original fitted leather case, applied with a plaque engraved in Russian '[To] Barbara and Carlotta / Marchisio / Moscow 21 November / 1870'
The stand, 10 ¼ in. (26 cm.) diameter
Provenance
A gift to Barbara Marchisio (1833-1919) and Carlotta Marchisio (1835-1872), the Italian opera singers, in 1870.
Acquired by the present owner in Italy in 1998.
Special notice
These lots have been imported from outside the EU or, if the UK has withdrawn from the EU without an agreed transition deal, from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Brought to you by

Margo Oganesian
Margo Oganesian Head of Department, Fabergé and Russian Works of Art
+44 (0)20 7389 2783

Lot Essay

Sisters Barbara and Carlotta Marchisio were famous Italian opera singers, who toured Russia with great success in 1869-1871. The present caviar set, wonderfully preserved in its original case with the presentation inscription, was a gift to Marchisio sisters whilst they were on tour in Moscow in November 1870.

In one of his letters to Mily Balakirev dated 1869, Pyotr Tchaikovskii wrote: ‘Everyone here is crazy about the Italian Opera. The Marchisio sisters (who really are first-rate singers) are causing an indescribable furore’.

The Marchisio sisters were protégés of Rossini, who wrote the Petit Messe Solennelle especially for them. The sisters were born in Turin, and were from a family of accomplished musicians. Their brothers Antonio and Joseph Marchisio were a composer and a pianist respectively, and their father was a piano manufacturer in Turin. The sisters often performed together, singing leading soprano and contralto roles, across Europe, including Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and London.

A comparable caviar set by Ovchinnikov presented to Emperor Alexander II in 1871 was sold at Christie's, Geneva, 19 November 1979, lot 238.

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