BY FABERGÉ, ST PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1900

Details

A JEWELLED AGATE MODEL OF A CAT
BY FABERGÉ, ST PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1900
Realistically carved as a playful cat, with its front paws extended as if playing with a mouse, with rose-cut diamond-set eyes, apparently unmarked; in the original fitted Fabergé wooden case
2 1⁄8 in. (5.5 cm.) long

Provenance

Edward James (1907-1984), a British poet and patron of the surrealist art movement.
Acquired from Wartski, London, in May 1981.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé, Jeweler to Royalty, New York, 1983, p. 86, no. 140 (listed).
G. von Habsburg, Fabergé, Kunsthalle of the Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich, 1986, p. 206, no. 371 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Carl Fabergé. Kostbarkeiten Russischer Goldschmiedekunst der Jahrkunderwende, Zurich, 1989, p. 107, no. 141 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, St Petersburg, 1993, p. 290, no. 157 (illustrated).
A. von Solodkoff, Fabergé, Juwelier des Zarenhofes, Heidelberg, 1995, p. 66, no. 22 (illustrated).
G. von Habsburg, Fabergé: Imperial Craftsman and His World, London, 2000, p. 307, no. 819 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé - Cartier, Rivalen am Zarenhof, Munich, 2003, p. 253, no. 362 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Carl Fabergé. A Private Collection, London, 2012, p. 36, no. 27 (illustrated).
Geoffrey C. Munn, Wartski: The First One Hundred and Fifty Years, London, 2015, p. 75 (illustrated).

Exhibited

New York, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Fabergé, Jeweler to Royalty, 15 April - 10 July 1983, no. 140.
Munich, Kunsthalle of the Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Fabergé, 5 December 1986 - 8 March 1987, no. 371.
New York, Habsburg, Feldman, The Josiane Woolf Fabergé Collection, 3 - 9 November 1988, no. 17.
Zurich, Museum Bellerive, Carl Fabergé. Kostbarkeiten Russischer Goldschmiedekunst der Jahrkunderwende, 31 May - September 1989, no. 141.
London, Wartski, Fabergé from Private Collections, 2 - 15 December 1992, no. 117.
St Petersburg, Hermitage State Museum; Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs; London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, June 1993 - April 1994, no. 157.
Hamburg, Kunstgewerbemuseum, Fabergé, Juweilier des Zarenhofes, 12 April - 25 June 1995, no. 22.
Wilmington, Riverfront Arts Centre, Fabergé, Imperial Craftsman and his World, 14 August 2000 - 28 February 2001, no. 819.
Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Fabergé/Cartier, Rivals at the Tsar’s Court, 28 November 2003 - 12 April 2004, no. 362.
London, Wartski, Carl Fabergé. A Private Collection, 15 - 25 May 2012, no. 27.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Margo Oganesian Head of Department, Fabergé and Russian Works of Art

moganesian@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2783

Lot Essay

Poet, designer and patron of the arts, Edward James (1907-1984) was a passionate supporter of the Surrealist movement. He built one of the finest private collections of Surrealist works by Salvador Dali, René Magritte and Max Ernst. His collection also included a number of works by Fabergé, which Christie's sold in June 1986.

Edward James inherited considerable wealth from his parents William James, an American railroad magnate, and Evelyn Forbes, a Scottish socialite. This allowed him to become patron of a number of artistic projects. From the late 1940s James dedicated much of his resources to building an extraordinary number of surrealist buildings and waterfalls in Xilitla in Central Mexico. He also established the Edward James Foundation at his property in West Dean to teach and keep crafts traditions alive.

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