Antique Fabergé Imperial Russian Gold and Carved Nephrite Bowl
View Similar Items
Antique Fabergé Imperial Russian Gold and Carved Nephrite Bowl
About the Item
- Creator:
- Metal:
- Dimensions:Height: 2 in (50.8 mm)Width: 3.5 in (88.9 mm)
- Style:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1890
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Redmond, WA
- Reference Number:Seller: 1510-0011stDibs: LU2423073033
Fabergé
While the House of Fabergé is best known for creating the lavishly ornate and intricately devised Imperial Easter eggs given by the last czars to their families as annual holiday gifts, it was the most prestigious Russian luxury goods maker of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Serving the aristocracy and the well-to-do through stores in St. Petersburg, Moscow and as far afield as London, Fabergé crafted a wide range of brooches and other jewelry, clock cases, silver and myriad objets de vertu that included picture frames, cigarette cases, cufflinks and carved hardstone floral and animal figurines. Following the revolution, the firm was closed by the Soviet state in 1918.
Master goldsmith Gustav Fabergé, a descendant of Huguenot emigrées, founded the company in St. Petersburg in 1842. The firm did a brisk trade among the lesser nobility and the merchant class, but it flourished under the guidance of Gustav’s eldest son Peter Carl Fabergé — known also as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé — who took over in 1872.
Cosmopolitan, widely-traveled and himself a master goldsmith — he was sent on a Grand Tour in the 1860s — the younger Fabergé drew early design inspiration when he volunteered to catalogue and restore pieces in the imperial jewelry collection in the Hermitage.
Fabergé pieces based on historical jewelry from the Hermitage caught the attention of Czar Alexander III at a Moscow exhibition in 1882, and three years later he commissioned the first Imperial Easter egg as a gift for the czarina. Czar Nicholas II continued the tradition, presenting two eggs each Easter — one for his wife and one for his mother.
Relatively simple in design compared to the complex cloisonné-adorned eggs that followed, the first Fabergé egg was a white-enameled ovoid containing a gold “yolk” that held a gold hen, which in turn contained a replica of the imperial crown from which hung an egg-shaped ruby pendant.
As the appointed goldsmith to the royal court, the House of Fabergé became the darling of Russian aristocrats as well as wealthy patrons across Europe. Many and varied objets — hundreds of thousands by one count — were made to meet their demand. The firm employed some 500 craftsmen and designers when it was shuttered.
After the Russian Revolution, the Fabergé name and trademark endured a checkered passage through the 20th century.
Family members left their homeland in 1918 and set up a new business in Paris that was mainly concerned with repairing and restoring earlier-made wares. The name was adopted by an American fragrance and beauty products maker in the late 1930s, and later authorized by the family in a 1951 agreement. The trademark has been subsequently sold several times, and attached to numerous products including jewelry.
Fabergé pieces are richly redolent of a romantic past, and a source of thorough delight — for connoisseurs, true Fabergé refers to items made in the firm’s brief, golden decades from 1885 to 1917.
Collectors are advised to make a study of Fabergé works in museum collections such as the Victoria & Albert and the Royal Collection in London to gain an understanding of the quality of genuine goods made by the original firm, and then to purchase only from reputable and reliable dealers, such those at 1stDibs.
Find Fabergé eggs for sale and other objects and vintage jewelry on 1stDibs.
- 19th Century Russian Imperial Gem-Set Gilded Silver Trophy Cup by OvchinnikovBy Pavel OvchinnikovLocated in Redmond, WAA Russian gem-set gilded silver three-handled loving cup yachting trophy, Ovchinnikov, Moscow, 1908-1911. The body of baluster form with flaring neck...Category
Early 20th Century Russian Russian Revival Vases
MaterialsGarnet, Silver
- Pair of Russian Antique Gold, Guilloché Enamel and Diamond CufflinksBy 8th Masters ArtelLocated in Redmond, WAA pair of Russian antique 56 standard (14 KT) gold, guilloché enamel, and diamond cufflinks, 8th Artel, Moscow, 1908-1917. Of shaped navette form, the cufflinks with a green gold cagework with floral ornament, including a diamond-set blossom centering the sunburst engine-turned ground enamelled translucent...Category
Early 20th Century Russian Art Nouveau Cufflinks
MaterialsDiamond, Enamel
- 1890s Russian Fabergé Imperial-era Silver Dip Pen, St. PetersburgBy FabergéLocated in St. Catharines, ONFrom the Romanov era, period of Tsar Nicholas II, the tapering cylindrical quill of rococo design, the ends decorated with scrolls, one with a reeded foliate border. by Fabergé, workmaster Julius...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Russian Rococo Desk Accessories
MaterialsSilver
- Russian Antique Imperial Nephrite Sterling Silver Rat SculptureLocated in New York, NYThis exquisite Russian Imperial sculpture features a rat in a top hat with a movable cane crafted out of sterling silver and nephrite. The nephrite is medium to medium light muddy gr...Category
Antique Early 1900s Figurines and Sculptures
MaterialsSterling Silver
- Antique Russian Imperial Nephrite Sterling Silver Bear Letter OpenerLocated in New York, NYThis exquisite Russian Imperial letter opened features medium green translucent nephrite knife with black inclusions and very luster. The handle a...Category
Antique Early 1900s Desk Accessories
MaterialsSterling Silver
- Chinese Antique Qing Carved "Mutton Fat" Nephrite Plaque Pendant CertifiedLocated in Southbury, CTElegant, rare, and dating to the late Qing period (circa 1890s), this hand-carved nearly colorless white nephrite plaque has been etched on both sides. One one, the Chinese mythological figure known as Zhang Guo Lao is depicted riding a mule. On the opposite side, a magpie sits on a branch of cherry blossoms. The magpie is associated with intelligence. The carving is breathlessly simple and excellent; the work executed -of course- without the aid of electricity or modern tools. Measuring 42.54mm x 29.92mm, the plaque has a hole drilled through the center, which is original to the piece. A silver bail is threaded through the hole and a pair of beads -black jade and coral- reside at the bottom. The jade plaque hands from a 1920s silver chain that is 32" in length. Prior to the discovery of and appreciation for the very fine green jadeite from Burma, colorless, opaque, pure white nephrite jade from the Northern mountains of China was the most revered jade; the original "imperial jade, as only members of the royal court could wear or even touch it. Most of what is commercially sold today as "mutton fat...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Artisan Pendant Necklaces
MaterialsJade, Silver
$3,250 Sale Price50% Off - Antique Carved Black Nephrite Jade Tablet Qing Dynasty Period UntreatedLocated in Southbury, CTThis exquisite and rare black jade tablet dates to the Qing period. The Qing Dynasty period spanned the years 1636 -1912. Precisely dating jade artifacts...Category
Antique Early 18th Century Chinese Artisan Pendant Necklaces
MaterialsJade, Silver
$3,375 Sale Price74% Off - Antique Fabergé Dendritic Agate Diamond Gold and Silver Heart Brooch, Circa 1915By FabergéLocated in London, GBA Fabergé dendritic agate and diamond heart shape brooch, with a heart shape dendritic agate, with inclusions suggesting trees, in a rub over settin...Category
Vintage 1910s Russian Belle Époque Brooches
MaterialsAgate, Diamond, 14k Gold, Silver
$19,161Free Shipping
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
A Centuries-Old Style, Lockets Have Never Lost Their Romantic Appeal
Emblems of heartfelt emotion, elegant vessels for photos and keepsakes and perfect for layering, these special ornaments are an essential component of any thoughtfully curated jewelry collection.
Everything You’d Want to Know about Enamel Jewelry
From vibrant to subtle, elegant to cheeky, enamel jewelry encompasses a wide range of colors and styles, and there are almost as many techniques for creating these distinctive pieces.