A gold and nephrite trompe-l'oeil Bonbonnière in the form of a Piano

MARKED FABERGÉ, WORKMASTER MICHAEL PERCHIN, ST. PETERSBURG, 1896-1908, WITH SCRATCHED INVENTORY NUMBER 5852

Details

A gold and nephrite trompe-l'oeil Bonbonnière in the form of a Piano
marked Fabergé, workmaster Michael Perchin, St. Petersburg, 1896-1908, with scratched inventory number 5852
Shaped rectangular, of spinet form in the Empire style, on four gadrooned feet, the partially open base with gold sphinx supports with rosettes and foliate decorations and with pedal and connection rods, the box with mount chased and engraved with acanthus band, the sides applied with foliate sprays incorporating a circle, the front and back enclosing a lyre, the sides a flowerhead, the hinged cover with similar mount, marked on mounts
3.ins. (7.5cm.) wide

Provenance

The Viscountess Curzon, purchased from the London branch of Fabergé on 28 July 1913 for £62
Christie's Geneva, 9 November 1977, lot 252

Literature

G. von Habsburg-Lothringen and A. von Solodkoff, Fabergé: Court Jeweler to the Tsars, (New York, 1979), no.33 illustrated
A.K. Snowman, Carl Fabergé, Goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia (London, 1979) illustrated p.38
Alexander von Solodkoff, Fabergé's London Branch, The Connoisseur, February 1982, p.105, illustrated

Lot Essay

Designed in the Retour de l'Egypte style commemorating the exploits of Napoleon's expedition to the Nile, and a fashion that swept Europe, this elegant creation exemplifies Fabergé's use of the different artistic styles of the past. For a miniature grand piano of gold-mounted nephrite see London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia; Fabergé 1846-1920 (1977), no.K23, illustrated p.62.

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