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Lot Essay
Purpurine works by Fabergé are exceptionally rare, particularly animal figures. Purpurine is produced by crystallising lead chromate within a glass matrix, a technique first developed in seventeenth-century Italy. In the nineteenth century, Sergey Petoukhov, a craftsman at the Imperial Glass Factory, rediscovered the process for creating purpurine.
The present model of a rabbit showcases the intensity and depth of colour that characterise the material, whilst also displaying the beautiful crystalline structure of the purpurine. The rabbit is carved in the style of Japanese netsuke, which often provided inspiration to Fabergé's designers. Carl Fabergé himself was a passionate collector and kept over 500 netsuke in his apartment on Bolshaya Morskaya street.
For a nearly identical model of a rabbit in lapis lazuli from the de Guigné collection, see G. von Habsburg, Fabergé in America, New York, 1996, p. 51, no. 32. For a further related model of a rabbit carved in purpurine see Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé - Cartier, Rivalen am Zarenhof, Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, November 28, 2003-April 12, 2004, illustrated p. 250, no. 345.
The present model of a rabbit showcases the intensity and depth of colour that characterise the material, whilst also displaying the beautiful crystalline structure of the purpurine. The rabbit is carved in the style of Japanese netsuke, which often provided inspiration to Fabergé's designers. Carl Fabergé himself was a passionate collector and kept over 500 netsuke in his apartment on Bolshaya Morskaya street.
For a nearly identical model of a rabbit in lapis lazuli from the de Guigné collection, see G. von Habsburg, Fabergé in America, New York, 1996, p. 51, no. 32. For a further related model of a rabbit carved in purpurine see Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé - Cartier, Rivalen am Zarenhof, Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, November 28, 2003-April 12, 2004, illustrated p. 250, no. 345.