.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
One of approximately 50 individual hardstone figures of 'Russian and English types' which Franz Birbaum in his memoirs regards as "the most remarkable stone creations", and he makes special mention of the modeller Georgii Konstantinovich Savitskii as the artist of some of the figures.
The figure follows the tradition of the porcelain factories of the late 18th and 19th centuries, which in turn were inspired by the publication of J.G. Georgi's work Description de toutes les Nations de l'Empire de Russie in St. Peterburg in 1776-1777, and later of Collection de Cris et Costumes de Paysans et Paysannes de St. Pétersbourg by A.O. Orlovskii in 1825.
Birbaum emphasises the craftsmanship of Savitskii commenting on his figurines 'which bear witness to his natural sensitivity and powers of observvations. Georgii Konstantinovich Savitskii (1887-1947) had graduated from the Academy of Arts, later becoming a professor and academician. For Fabergé he was both a designer carrying out individual commissions as well as the talented carver in hardstones so admired by Birbaum, who states that his other figures were a Tatar street-pedlar, the reserve soldier of 1914 and an ice-carrier. Valentin Skurlov, co-author with T.F. Fabergé and A.S. Gorynia of Fabergé and the Petersburg Jewellers, (St. Petersburg, 1997) stresses the individuality of each of the carved figures.
It is interesting to note that, in his research, Dr. Skurlov managed to find a reference to another, later, figure of an accordion-player. On 5 February 1914 the Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich wrote a letter to Nicholas II, "Yesterday's success of the hardstone figure of the St. Petersburg coachman by Fabergé gave me the audacity to bring another one depicting a muzhik with an accordion, which workmanship is even better than the excellent coachman'.
Emanuel Noble (1859-1932) was one of the most powerful industrialists in Russia, as well as one of Fabergé's most important private clients. The year before the revolution, the Nobel Company produced one third of all Russian crude oil and 40 of all refined oil products and 75 of the domestic demand. The Nobel Company also owned one of the largest private tanker fleets in the world.
The figure follows the tradition of the porcelain factories of the late 18th and 19th centuries, which in turn were inspired by the publication of J.G. Georgi's work Description de toutes les Nations de l'Empire de Russie in St. Peterburg in 1776-1777, and later of Collection de Cris et Costumes de Paysans et Paysannes de St. Pétersbourg by A.O. Orlovskii in 1825.
Birbaum emphasises the craftsmanship of Savitskii commenting on his figurines 'which bear witness to his natural sensitivity and powers of observvations. Georgii Konstantinovich Savitskii (1887-1947) had graduated from the Academy of Arts, later becoming a professor and academician. For Fabergé he was both a designer carrying out individual commissions as well as the talented carver in hardstones so admired by Birbaum, who states that his other figures were a Tatar street-pedlar, the reserve soldier of 1914 and an ice-carrier. Valentin Skurlov, co-author with T.F. Fabergé and A.S. Gorynia of Fabergé and the Petersburg Jewellers, (St. Petersburg, 1997) stresses the individuality of each of the carved figures.
It is interesting to note that, in his research, Dr. Skurlov managed to find a reference to another, later, figure of an accordion-player. On 5 February 1914 the Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich wrote a letter to Nicholas II, "Yesterday's success of the hardstone figure of the St. Petersburg coachman by Fabergé gave me the audacity to bring another one depicting a muzhik with an accordion, which workmanship is even better than the excellent coachman'.
Emanuel Noble (1859-1932) was one of the most powerful industrialists in Russia, as well as one of Fabergé's most important private clients. The year before the revolution, the Nobel Company produced one third of all Russian crude oil and 40 of all refined oil products and 75 of the domestic demand. The Nobel Company also owned one of the largest private tanker fleets in the world.