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拍品專文
Without doubt, Dr. Emmanuel Nobel can be considered as one of Fabergé's most important clients "E. Nobel, one of the kings of oil, was so generous in his presents that at times it seemed that this was his chief occupation and delight. Orders were constantly being made for him in the [Fabergé] workshops and from time to time he came to have a look at them. Often, he only decided for whom the present should be when the work was finished." (quoted in Birbaum's memoirs, St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller (1993) p. 454)
According to H.C. Bainbridge, Dr. Emmanuel Nobel "...was a man of very original ideas. For Dr. Nobel a dinner party was no dinner at all unless the ladies present were suitably rewarded. On one of these occasions, wishing to recall a Russian winter, he conceived the idea of giving all the ladies present an icicle. Fabergé carried this out in pendants and brooches in rock-crystal with a matt surface adorned with small diamonds in frost design." (H.C. Bainbridge, Peter Carl Fabergé (London, 1949) p. 58)
For such snowflake pendants and brooches see Christie's Geneva, 16 May 1990, lot 70 and Christie's London, 20 November 1997, lot 183.
In his memoirs, Franz Birbaum went further and mentioned the present gueridon amongst Emmanuel Nobel's special commissions.
"Of his numerous orders the large chimney clock (a reproduction in stone of the temple of Fire Worshippers) is worth mentioning... The clock was made to the design of the artist E. Iakobson. The large rhodonite vase with supporting figures of stolniki in costumes of the time of Aleksei Mikhailovich, and the round nephrite table with silver caryatids in Empire style are also worth mentioning." See Stockholm, National Museum, Fabergé (1977) ill. p. 60
The Fabergé firm produced a small number of furniture pieces like tables and sometimes showcases like the one in the collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post. See A. Odom, Fabergé at the Hillwood, (Washington, D.C., 1996) p. 10.
This gueridon amongst Fabergé furniture creations can be considered as unique as it is the only piece of furniture which does not include wood. All the parts in this gueridon are either hardstone or silver, two materials which Fabergé workmasters excel in working with. It was executed after the sketches drawn by Franz Birbaum, the senior master craftsman of the firm.
The Nobels: The Nobels were a Swedish family, originally from the Nobbelöw in the south. Emmanuel Nobel (1801-1872) moved to St. Petersburg in 1833. He started a munitions manufacturing business with considerable success, but finally went bankrupt and returned to Sweden in 1859. His three eldest sons Robert (1829-1896), Ludwig (1831-1888) and Alfred (1833-1896) remained in Russia. A fourth brother, Emil Oscar died in an explosion in 1864.
Ludwig, who inherited his father's inventive mind, also made his fortune through munitions manufacture and later through the oil industry. His employees enjoyed working conditions of an unusually high standard. Alfred made his fortune in dynamite and left a large bequest in trust for the patronage of pacifism and culture. The Robert Nobel Refinery business was started in 1875, but Robert was not as successful as his younger brothers and returned to Sweden in 1879.
The Nobel Brothers Petroleum Production Company was formed in May 1879 by Robert, Ludwig and Alfred Nobel, developing from Robert's business, with Ludwig's financial backing. The aim was to improve the refinery of kerosene from the oil rich Baku region in the Caucasus and the Company rapidly became not only the leading kerosene producer in Baku, but was also producing more than the rest of the entire industry in Russia. The share capital increased from 3,000,000 roubles to 15,000,000 within five years, with Ludwig as the driving force as well as the majority shareholder. His extraordinary business talent combined with a capacity for imaginative and inventive direction led to many revolutionary innovations including continuous distillation and the design and construction of the world's first oil tanker. Following Ludwig's death in 1888 the Company came under the direction of his very able son Carl, who died in Switzerland in 1898. It then fell to Carl's brother, Emmanuel to take charge of the Company.
Emmanuel Nobel (1859-1932) unexpectedly proved himself to be a masterful director with a very good financial brain and an ability to choose excellent advisers and colleagues. He was responsible for the introduction of the Nobel Diesel engine and under his direction the Company continued to flourish. In 1914, he became a Russian subject.
Six months before the October Revolution in 1917, which led to the nationalisation of the Company, Nobel's announced record profits. By this time Nobel's owned, controlled or had important interests in companies employing 50,000 workers, producing one-third of the total domestic consumption. After 1917, Emmanuel left Russia with his family, to settle in Sweden.
According to H.C. Bainbridge, Dr. Emmanuel Nobel "...was a man of very original ideas. For Dr. Nobel a dinner party was no dinner at all unless the ladies present were suitably rewarded. On one of these occasions, wishing to recall a Russian winter, he conceived the idea of giving all the ladies present an icicle. Fabergé carried this out in pendants and brooches in rock-crystal with a matt surface adorned with small diamonds in frost design." (H.C. Bainbridge, Peter Carl Fabergé (London, 1949) p. 58)
For such snowflake pendants and brooches see Christie's Geneva, 16 May 1990, lot 70 and Christie's London, 20 November 1997, lot 183.
In his memoirs, Franz Birbaum went further and mentioned the present gueridon amongst Emmanuel Nobel's special commissions.
"Of his numerous orders the large chimney clock (a reproduction in stone of the temple of Fire Worshippers) is worth mentioning... The clock was made to the design of the artist E. Iakobson. The large rhodonite vase with supporting figures of stolniki in costumes of the time of Aleksei Mikhailovich, and the round nephrite table with silver caryatids in Empire style are also worth mentioning." See Stockholm, National Museum, Fabergé (1977) ill. p. 60
The Fabergé firm produced a small number of furniture pieces like tables and sometimes showcases like the one in the collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post. See A. Odom, Fabergé at the Hillwood, (Washington, D.C., 1996) p. 10.
This gueridon amongst Fabergé furniture creations can be considered as unique as it is the only piece of furniture which does not include wood. All the parts in this gueridon are either hardstone or silver, two materials which Fabergé workmasters excel in working with. It was executed after the sketches drawn by Franz Birbaum, the senior master craftsman of the firm.
The Nobels: The Nobels were a Swedish family, originally from the Nobbelöw in the south. Emmanuel Nobel (1801-1872) moved to St. Petersburg in 1833. He started a munitions manufacturing business with considerable success, but finally went bankrupt and returned to Sweden in 1859. His three eldest sons Robert (1829-1896), Ludwig (1831-1888) and Alfred (1833-1896) remained in Russia. A fourth brother, Emil Oscar died in an explosion in 1864.
Ludwig, who inherited his father's inventive mind, also made his fortune through munitions manufacture and later through the oil industry. His employees enjoyed working conditions of an unusually high standard. Alfred made his fortune in dynamite and left a large bequest in trust for the patronage of pacifism and culture. The Robert Nobel Refinery business was started in 1875, but Robert was not as successful as his younger brothers and returned to Sweden in 1879.
The Nobel Brothers Petroleum Production Company was formed in May 1879 by Robert, Ludwig and Alfred Nobel, developing from Robert's business, with Ludwig's financial backing. The aim was to improve the refinery of kerosene from the oil rich Baku region in the Caucasus and the Company rapidly became not only the leading kerosene producer in Baku, but was also producing more than the rest of the entire industry in Russia. The share capital increased from 3,000,000 roubles to 15,000,000 within five years, with Ludwig as the driving force as well as the majority shareholder. His extraordinary business talent combined with a capacity for imaginative and inventive direction led to many revolutionary innovations including continuous distillation and the design and construction of the world's first oil tanker. Following Ludwig's death in 1888 the Company came under the direction of his very able son Carl, who died in Switzerland in 1898. It then fell to Carl's brother, Emmanuel to take charge of the Company.
Emmanuel Nobel (1859-1932) unexpectedly proved himself to be a masterful director with a very good financial brain and an ability to choose excellent advisers and colleagues. He was responsible for the introduction of the Nobel Diesel engine and under his direction the Company continued to flourish. In 1914, he became a Russian subject.
Six months before the October Revolution in 1917, which led to the nationalisation of the Company, Nobel's announced record profits. By this time Nobel's owned, controlled or had important interests in companies employing 50,000 workers, producing one-third of the total domestic consumption. After 1917, Emmanuel left Russia with his family, to settle in Sweden.