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Lot Essay
ALEXANDER MANTASHEV
Alexander Mantashev (1842-1911) was a prominent Armenian oil baron, financier and philanthropist. As one of the wealthiest men in early 20th century Russia, he was compared to the Rockefellers and Nobel brothers. Mantashev was born in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi) in Georgia, and contributed greatly to the city’s development. In 1906 he funded the Baku-Batumi pipeline project, the world's longest pipeline, which shortly became very profitable. From 1899 to 1909, Mantashev’s firm was one of Russia's largest industrial companies.
Mantashev was also known for making very generous donations towards the development of Armenian churches and schools around the world. He built the first Armenian church on British soil in Manchester, and paid for the construction of the Armenian church of Saint John the Baptist in Paris.
FABERGÉ AND THE IMPERIAL STROGANOV SCHOOL
This unusual and rare bowl, shaped as a duck, is a wonderful testimony to Fabergé’s work in the neo-Russian style and the firm's experimental approach to new materials. Fabergé started working closely with the Imperial Stroganov School in 1900, when the workshop won a gold medal at the Paris exhibition for its famous experimental ceramics. Artists at the Imperial Stroganov School experimented with new forms and glazes. Their close collaboration with Fabergé's silversmiths in Moscow resulted in the production of magnificent decorative and functional items like the present lot.
The neo-Russian style became popular in the late 19th to early 20th century and was rooted in Slavic and Russian folk traditions. It was the time of a rebirth of interest in Russia’s artistic heritage, which was particularly favoured by the wealthy merchant families of Moscow. Interestingly, one can draw parallels between the famous Russian fairy tale The White Duck and the present ceramic duck, decorated with elegant white glaze.
Ceramic works with Fabergé silver mounts also proved popular with members of the Imperial family, who had several examples in their collection. Fabergé’s London Ledgers record the sale of a comparable model of a duck, decorated with dark green glaze, to Grand Duke Michael in October 1908 for £23.5s. A surviving photograph of the interior of the Fabergé shop in London depicts a comparable duck displayed on one of the tables (as illustrated in K. McCarthy, Fabergé in London: The British Branch of the Imperial Russian Goldsmith, China, 2017, p. 34).
Another comparable bowl, shaped as a duck and decorated with dark blue gaze, is part of the collection of the House of Hesse, see G. von Habsburg, Fabergé Cartier, Rivalen am Zarenhof, Munich, 2003-2004, p. 290, no. 477. Two other similar ducks, both decorated with green glaze, were sold Christie’s, New York, 19 April 2002, lot 172, and Christie’s, New York, 11 February 1982, lot 362.
Alexander Mantashev (1842-1911) was a prominent Armenian oil baron, financier and philanthropist. As one of the wealthiest men in early 20th century Russia, he was compared to the Rockefellers and Nobel brothers. Mantashev was born in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi) in Georgia, and contributed greatly to the city’s development. In 1906 he funded the Baku-Batumi pipeline project, the world's longest pipeline, which shortly became very profitable. From 1899 to 1909, Mantashev’s firm was one of Russia's largest industrial companies.
Mantashev was also known for making very generous donations towards the development of Armenian churches and schools around the world. He built the first Armenian church on British soil in Manchester, and paid for the construction of the Armenian church of Saint John the Baptist in Paris.
FABERGÉ AND THE IMPERIAL STROGANOV SCHOOL
This unusual and rare bowl, shaped as a duck, is a wonderful testimony to Fabergé’s work in the neo-Russian style and the firm's experimental approach to new materials. Fabergé started working closely with the Imperial Stroganov School in 1900, when the workshop won a gold medal at the Paris exhibition for its famous experimental ceramics. Artists at the Imperial Stroganov School experimented with new forms and glazes. Their close collaboration with Fabergé's silversmiths in Moscow resulted in the production of magnificent decorative and functional items like the present lot.
The neo-Russian style became popular in the late 19th to early 20th century and was rooted in Slavic and Russian folk traditions. It was the time of a rebirth of interest in Russia’s artistic heritage, which was particularly favoured by the wealthy merchant families of Moscow. Interestingly, one can draw parallels between the famous Russian fairy tale The White Duck and the present ceramic duck, decorated with elegant white glaze.
Ceramic works with Fabergé silver mounts also proved popular with members of the Imperial family, who had several examples in their collection. Fabergé’s London Ledgers record the sale of a comparable model of a duck, decorated with dark green glaze, to Grand Duke Michael in October 1908 for £23.5s. A surviving photograph of the interior of the Fabergé shop in London depicts a comparable duck displayed on one of the tables (as illustrated in K. McCarthy, Fabergé in London: The British Branch of the Imperial Russian Goldsmith, China, 2017, p. 34).
Another comparable bowl, shaped as a duck and decorated with dark blue gaze, is part of the collection of the House of Hesse, see G. von Habsburg, Fabergé Cartier, Rivalen am Zarenhof, Munich, 2003-2004, p. 290, no. 477. Two other similar ducks, both decorated with green glaze, were sold Christie’s, New York, 19 April 2002, lot 172, and Christie’s, New York, 11 February 1982, lot 362.