A JEWELLED PLATINUM AND ROCK CRYSTAL 'ICE' PENDANT

FABERGÉ, ST. PETERSBURG, 1913, WITH SCRATCHED INVENTORY NUMBER 96833

Details

A JEWELLED PLATINUM AND ROCK CRYSTAL 'ICE' PENDANT
Fabergé, St. Petersburg, 1913, with scratched inventory number 96833
The heart-shaped rock crystal embellished with platinum-mounted rose diamonds simulating snowflakes, with later suspension loop, (originally a brooch), inventory number on mount, in the original wooden case, stamped in Russian inside the cover 'Fabergé St. Petersburg Moscow, London', with Imperial warrant
1 3/8in. (3.4cm.) long

Provenance

Bought at the Fabergé London branch by Mr. Oppenheim, December 23 1913 for 60
Wartski, London, 21st November 1980

Literature

von Solodkoff, A. Masterpieces from the House of Fabergé, New York, 1984, pp.16, 167, ill. p. 167
Kelly, M. Highlights from the Forbes Magazine Collection, New York, 1985, p. 18, ill.
Booth, J. The Art of Fabergé, New York, 1990, p. 52, ill.
Snowman, K.A. Fabergé: Lost and Found, New York, 1993, p. 134, ill.
Swift, V. "Alma Pihl's Design for Fabergé", Antiques, 1996 Forbes, C. & Tromeur-Brenner, R. Fabergé, The Forbes Collection, New York, 1999, p. 151,(with printing mistake concerning the inventory number), ill. p. 150
Raulet, S. & Boucheron, A. Cristal de Roche, Paris, 1999, ill. p. 158

Exhibited

Fort Worth, The Kimbell Art Museum, Fabergé, The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1983, no. 70
Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Fabergé, The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1983, no. 23
Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Fabergé, The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1984, no. 70
Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Fabergé, 1986, no. 123, ill. p. 143
Lugano, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Fabergé Fantasies from the Forbes Magazine Collection, 1987, no. 93, ill. p. 92
Paris, Musée Jaquemart André, Fabergé, Orfèvre à la Cour des Tsars, 1987, no. 93, ill. p. 88
London, Ermitage, Fabergé Imperial Presents, 1987
Washington D.C., Corcoran Gallery, Fabergé and Finland, 1996
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Carl Fabergé: Goldsmith to the Tsar, 1997, no. 222, ill.
Biltmore, Biltmore Estate, The Glitter and the Gold: Fabergé at Biltmore Estate, 1998
Charleston, Middleton Place Foundation, Masterpieces in Gold, 2000 Tucson, Tucson Gem and Mineral Society at the Tucson Convention Center, Fabergé, 2001

Lot Essay

With the inspiration of the highly talented designer, Alma Theresia Pihl, whose two pièces de résistance were The Mosaic Egg, presented in 1914 (now in The Collection of Her Majesty The Queen of England) and The Winter Egg (now in a Private American collection), presented in 1913 and under the direction of Albert Holmström, some of Fabergé's most outstanding works were created. Both the discovery of the stock books, with drawings illustrating the items produced in the workshop of Albert Holmström between 1909 and 1915, and the sale of the Winter Egg (Christie's Geneva 16 November 1994, lot 464) have provided further insight into the inspiration and realization of the snow-flake and ice designs. In his article, 'Two Books of Revelations', Apollo, (September 1987), p. 155, A. Kenneth Snowman quotes from a letter of December 30, 1986 from Mrs. Ulla Tillander in Helsinki: 'The text of the sketch books seems to be in Alma's handwriting...In 1911 she got a chance to do designs of her own. Alma remembered very vividly the day there was an order from the Nobel Office, very urgently to make up to forty small pieces, in a new design...As ice crystals were very frequent on the draughty window glasses in those days, she suddenly got her inspiration from those. This is how Nobel snowflakes came about. The year was 1911 or 1912.'

For a similar 'snowflake' pendant see Christie's London, November 20, 1997, lot 183, sold for 26,000

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