.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
RHINOCEROS AUTOMATONS BY FABERGÉ
Automatons are amongst the rarest objects produced by Fabergé. Those that are known were important and specific commissions, notably the surprises for Imperial Easter Eggs. This automated silver rhinoceros is one of only three known examples by Fabergé and is the only one with a sapphire horn. All of the recorded rhinoceroses appear to be unmarked and are very similar in size to the present lot.
The present rhinoceros was sold at Christie’s, New York in October 1984. Its horn is decorated with a cabochon sapphire whilst its chased and embossed matte silver finish resembles the leathery skin of the animal. When wound with the original key, the animal slowly moves on ratchet wheels and lifts its head up and down. The articulated tail also sways from side to side as the rhino glides along.
A second example with a silver horn and scratched inventory number ‘17591’ was originally purchased by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich (1859-1919) from Fabergé in 1914 for 600 roubles. This example eventually formed part of the Forbes Magazine Collection and is now held in the collection of the Fabergé Museum, St. Petersburg.
A further example is the rhinoceros with a silver horn which was acquired directly from the descendants of Prince Vasili Alexandrovich, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna’s grandson, and sold at Christie’s, London on 27 November 2017, lot 204 (sold for £704,750, private collection). This rhinoceros was initially acquired by Lord Chamberlain Howe from the London branch of Fabergé for £60 in November 1909, as recorded in the London ledger books with an inventory number ‘17665’. Later that year, Lord Howe presented the silver rhino to Queen Alexandra (1844-1925) on her sixty-fifth birthday.
Viscount Knutsford described this gift in the journal In Black and White published in 1926, mistakenly referring to it as a hippopotamus: 'What pleased her most, I think, was Howe’s present of a little hippopotamus made of silver by this Russian (Fabergé), perfectly modelled, and when wound up, it walked by means of little clockwork wheels in the legs, and wagged its tail!' (K. Snowman, Fabergé. Jeweller to Royalty, Washington, D. C., 1983, pp. 12-13).
FABERGÉ AUTOMATONS AND THEIR SOURCES
From as early as the third century B.C., automatons have captured our imagination with their lifelike movement and ingenious mechanics. The art form reached its apogee in the eighteenth century through the work of the celebrated English clockmaker James Cox, who founded a museum of luxurious curiosities in 1772. China and Russia became the principal markets for Cox’s extraordinary creations. Today, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg houses some of his most important works, including the celebrated Peacock Clock and an ornate gold-mounted agate table clock incorporating a nécessaire and musical mechanism, supported on four rhinoceroses.
For nearly twenty years, Carl Fabergé voluntarily spent his time at the Imperial Hermitage, repairing, restoring, and cataloguing its treasures. Among the works that particularly fascinated him was Cox’s Peacock Clock, which Fabergé examined and restored. Familiarity with this monumental mechanical masterpiece directly informed the design of the smaller 1900 Cockerel Easter Egg, as well as the later Rothschild, Kelch Chanticleer, and Imperial Peacock Eggs.
Another likely source of inspiration for the present rhinoceros automaton was the French fashion for mantel clocks incorporating figures of rhinoceroses, elephants, bulls, and lions, which flourished in mid-18th century Paris. One such rhinoceros clock, dating to circa 1770, is also preserved in the Hermitage collection (see T. H. Clarke, The Rhinoceros from Dürer to Stubbs 1515-1799, London, 1986, pl. 102). A related example was sold at Christie’s, London, 6 December 2012, lot 18.
The vogue for rhinoceros imagery in decorative arts can ultimately be traced to Clara, an Indian rhinoceros who toured Europe for seventeen years. Clara belonged to Jan Albert Sichterman, director of the Dutch East India Company in Bengal, and became one of the great curiosities of eighteenth-century Europe. Highlights of her tour included posing for Johann Joachim Kändler at the Meissen porcelain factory in 1747 and being presented to Louis XV at the Royal Menagerie at Versailles in 1749. In 1750 she travelled to Italy, visiting the Baths of Diocletian, and in 1751 arrived in Venice, where she was painted by Pietro Longhi and featured in the carnival festivities (G. Ridley, Clara’s Grand Tour: Travels with a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-Century Europe, London, 2004).
Parisian craftsmen quickly capitalized on Clara’s fame, producing and marketing clocks featuring rhinoceroses that drew inspiration from Albrecht Dürer’s celebrated 1515 engraving. Dürer’s interpretation emphasized the animal’s plated anatomy and heavily scaled legs, characteristics echoed in the chased decoration and construction of the present Fabergé automaton.
Fabergé’s synthesis of Dürer, Cox, and French mantel-clock traditions is evident in the automaton’s chased and embossed matte silver surface, which evokes the leathery texture of rhinoceros skin. When wound with its original key, the animal advances slowly on ratcheted wheels while lifting and lowering its head. Its articulated tail sways gently from side to side as the rhinoceros glides forward. A release rod located beneath the animal’s stomach controls the starting and stopping of the mechanism.
Other notable automatons by Fabergé include the miniature sedan chair containing a figure of Empress Catherine II, created as the surprise for the Catherine the Great Egg and sold at Christie’s, Geneva, on 13 November 1985 (lot 30). Another celebrated example is the silver automaton elephant with an enameled mahout, together with the ivory and enamel elephant-and-castle automaton created as the surprise for the Diamond Trellis Egg, both now preserved in the Royal Collection Trust.
Automatons are amongst the rarest objects produced by Fabergé. Those that are known were important and specific commissions, notably the surprises for Imperial Easter Eggs. This automated silver rhinoceros is one of only three known examples by Fabergé and is the only one with a sapphire horn. All of the recorded rhinoceroses appear to be unmarked and are very similar in size to the present lot.
The present rhinoceros was sold at Christie’s, New York in October 1984. Its horn is decorated with a cabochon sapphire whilst its chased and embossed matte silver finish resembles the leathery skin of the animal. When wound with the original key, the animal slowly moves on ratchet wheels and lifts its head up and down. The articulated tail also sways from side to side as the rhino glides along.
A second example with a silver horn and scratched inventory number ‘17591’ was originally purchased by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich (1859-1919) from Fabergé in 1914 for 600 roubles. This example eventually formed part of the Forbes Magazine Collection and is now held in the collection of the Fabergé Museum, St. Petersburg.
A further example is the rhinoceros with a silver horn which was acquired directly from the descendants of Prince Vasili Alexandrovich, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna’s grandson, and sold at Christie’s, London on 27 November 2017, lot 204 (sold for £704,750, private collection). This rhinoceros was initially acquired by Lord Chamberlain Howe from the London branch of Fabergé for £60 in November 1909, as recorded in the London ledger books with an inventory number ‘17665’. Later that year, Lord Howe presented the silver rhino to Queen Alexandra (1844-1925) on her sixty-fifth birthday.
Viscount Knutsford described this gift in the journal In Black and White published in 1926, mistakenly referring to it as a hippopotamus: 'What pleased her most, I think, was Howe’s present of a little hippopotamus made of silver by this Russian (Fabergé), perfectly modelled, and when wound up, it walked by means of little clockwork wheels in the legs, and wagged its tail!' (K. Snowman, Fabergé. Jeweller to Royalty, Washington, D. C., 1983, pp. 12-13).
FABERGÉ AUTOMATONS AND THEIR SOURCES
From as early as the third century B.C., automatons have captured our imagination with their lifelike movement and ingenious mechanics. The art form reached its apogee in the eighteenth century through the work of the celebrated English clockmaker James Cox, who founded a museum of luxurious curiosities in 1772. China and Russia became the principal markets for Cox’s extraordinary creations. Today, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg houses some of his most important works, including the celebrated Peacock Clock and an ornate gold-mounted agate table clock incorporating a nécessaire and musical mechanism, supported on four rhinoceroses.
For nearly twenty years, Carl Fabergé voluntarily spent his time at the Imperial Hermitage, repairing, restoring, and cataloguing its treasures. Among the works that particularly fascinated him was Cox’s Peacock Clock, which Fabergé examined and restored. Familiarity with this monumental mechanical masterpiece directly informed the design of the smaller 1900 Cockerel Easter Egg, as well as the later Rothschild, Kelch Chanticleer, and Imperial Peacock Eggs.
Another likely source of inspiration for the present rhinoceros automaton was the French fashion for mantel clocks incorporating figures of rhinoceroses, elephants, bulls, and lions, which flourished in mid-18th century Paris. One such rhinoceros clock, dating to circa 1770, is also preserved in the Hermitage collection (see T. H. Clarke, The Rhinoceros from Dürer to Stubbs 1515-1799, London, 1986, pl. 102). A related example was sold at Christie’s, London, 6 December 2012, lot 18.
The vogue for rhinoceros imagery in decorative arts can ultimately be traced to Clara, an Indian rhinoceros who toured Europe for seventeen years. Clara belonged to Jan Albert Sichterman, director of the Dutch East India Company in Bengal, and became one of the great curiosities of eighteenth-century Europe. Highlights of her tour included posing for Johann Joachim Kändler at the Meissen porcelain factory in 1747 and being presented to Louis XV at the Royal Menagerie at Versailles in 1749. In 1750 she travelled to Italy, visiting the Baths of Diocletian, and in 1751 arrived in Venice, where she was painted by Pietro Longhi and featured in the carnival festivities (G. Ridley, Clara’s Grand Tour: Travels with a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-Century Europe, London, 2004).
Parisian craftsmen quickly capitalized on Clara’s fame, producing and marketing clocks featuring rhinoceroses that drew inspiration from Albrecht Dürer’s celebrated 1515 engraving. Dürer’s interpretation emphasized the animal’s plated anatomy and heavily scaled legs, characteristics echoed in the chased decoration and construction of the present Fabergé automaton.
Fabergé’s synthesis of Dürer, Cox, and French mantel-clock traditions is evident in the automaton’s chased and embossed matte silver surface, which evokes the leathery texture of rhinoceros skin. When wound with its original key, the animal advances slowly on ratcheted wheels while lifting and lowering its head. Its articulated tail sways gently from side to side as the rhinoceros glides forward. A release rod located beneath the animal’s stomach controls the starting and stopping of the mechanism.
Other notable automatons by Fabergé include the miniature sedan chair containing a figure of Empress Catherine II, created as the surprise for the Catherine the Great Egg and sold at Christie’s, Geneva, on 13 November 1985 (lot 30). Another celebrated example is the silver automaton elephant with an enameled mahout, together with the ivory and enamel elephant-and-castle automaton created as the surprise for the Diamond Trellis Egg, both now preserved in the Royal Collection Trust.