FABERGÉ LATE 19TH CENTURY TRANSFORMABLE DIAMOND NECKLACE
FABERGÉ LATE 19TH CENTURY TRANSFORMABLE DIAMOND NECKLACE
FABERGÉ LATE 19TH CENTURY TRANSFORMABLE DIAMOND NECKLACE
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FABERGÉ LATE 19TH CENTURY TRANSFORMABLE DIAMOND NECKLACE
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FABERGÉ LATE 19TH CENTURY TRANSFORMABLE DIAMOND NECKLACE

Details
FABERGÉ LATE 19TH CENTURY TRANSFORMABLE DIAMOND NECKLACE
Old, rose-cut and round diamonds, gold (Russian marks) and silver, pendant detachable to be worn as a brooch, secondary diamond lines detach for alternative necklace composition, circa 1890, maker's mark (August Holmström to the pin and loop fitting), St Petersburg, fitted original wooden Fabergé case

Size/Dimensions: 37.2 cm long; pendant/brooch 5.2 x 4.7 cm
Gross weight: 39.1 grams
Provenance
Wartski London.
Literature
K. McCarthy, H. Faurby, Fabergé, Romance to Revolution, V&A Publishing, London, 2021, p. 54 (illustrated)
Exhibited
Fabergé, Romance to Revolution, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, from 20 November 2021 to 8 May 2022.

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Max Fawcett
Max Fawcett Head of Department

Lot Essay

An original design for this magnificent and rare necklace by Fabergé is featured in the album of jewellery drawings from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The album features more than 1,200 jewellery designs on 60 pages, and is currently undergoing extensive restoration.

This elegant necklace is convertible to a brooch. It was made by August Holmström (1829-1903), Fabergé’s chief jeweller for forty-six years. Homström oversaw the production of the major jewellery pieces. He had joined the House of Fabergé during the time of Gustav Fabergé, Carl Fabergé’s father, and trained future workmasters such as Erik Kollin, Viktor Aarne, and Knut Oscar Pihl, who became his son-in-law.

Henry Bainbridge, the manager of Fabergé’s London branch and author of the first monograph on Carl Fabergé, wrote:

‘I cannot place Holmström except on the very top rung of the Fabergé ladder. No jeweller in Europe could beat him, but he was much more than a setter of precious stones. [...] Not only did he succeed in turning out objects of jewellery for personal adornment and jewelled objects in the way of Imperial Easter Eggs and their 'surprises', and of the finest quality, but he was equally successful in goldsmithery, pure and simple.’ (H.C. Bainbridge, Peter Carl Fabergé, London, 1949, p. 130).

Fabergé jewellery of this importance and with its original fitted case is very rare on the market. For a comparable necklace by August Holmström, see U. Tillander-Godenhielm, Fabergé His Masters and Artisans, Helsinki, 2018, p. 43.

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