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Carl Fabergé: A carved hardstone standing figure, wealthy farmer, late-19th century, H. 18,6 cm
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Hammer price:
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DKK
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425,000
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EUR
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57,047
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Estimate:
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DKK
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800,000
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EUR
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107,383
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A buyer's premium and a buyer's fee will be added to the stated price.
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Description
Carl Fabergé: A carved hardstone standing figure depicting a wealthy landowner with e.g. chalcedony face and hands, brown jasper beard and hair, faceted blue sapphire eyes, green jasper coat, brown jasper waistcoat, purpurine collar, and gold watch chain and buttons, white quartz or bone shirt with silver-gilt buttons, sodalite trousers, black onyx boots, greyish black obsidian cap and gold walking stick, stamped 56 zolotnik. Gold mounts by head workmaster Michael E. Perchin (1860-1903), St. Petersburg, 1890s, figure presumably carved by workmaster/stone carver Georgy K. Savitsky. H. 18.6 cm. Thumb missing, crack on the left lapel of the coat, small chip on the lower edge of the shirt.
History: The precise number of figures produced is not known. For many years, there were thought to be around 40, but when at the end of the 20th century in the region of 45 figures could be counted in museums, collections and at auction the number for the original figures produced was revised to around 80, of which some naturally have been lost in troubled times and war since.
Provenance: Director at Burmeister & Wain, Jens Schrøder (1917-2010). Jens Schrøder, sales director at B. & W. shipbuilders and machin manufactures founded in Copenhagen in 1878, responsible for sale of large ships to Russia. In the years he was employed at B.& W. (1956-1987) he visited Russia 88 times. Between 1956 and c. 1963 he also travelled – on official business – in Turkey. Jens Schrøder bequeathed his large collection of Russian icons, comprising around 110 pieces, to Sorø Art Museum in Denmark, where they can be seen today.
Literature: Similar figures reproduced in H. C. Bainbridge, ‘Peter Carl Fabergé’, plates 100 & 101 and plates 109 & 110; Jessie Mcnab Dennis in ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin’, fig. 13, 14 and 15; Geza von Habsburg, ‘Fabergé’, fig. 385, 386, 387, 388 and 389; Elsebeth Welander-Berggren et al., ‘Carl Fabergé - Tsarens Guldsmed’, fig. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27.
A. von Soloskoff, ’Fabergés Hardstone Figures in Munich’, Kunsthall der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, e.g. fig. 38, 41 and 45.
Frans Birbaum, head designer at Fabergé, writes a great deal about these figures in his memoirs, referring to them as, ’the most remarkable stone creations’, mentioning in particular the sculptor Georgy K. Savitsky as the artist who have produced a number of the figures.
Other known makers of the figures are wrokmaster and stone carver masters Derbyshev, Kremlev and Robert Pestov, and from c. 1907 also the renowned sculptor Boris Frödman-Cluzel.
Collections and museums where similar figures are to be or have been found:
Queen Elizabeth II of England, Sir William Seeds - England, King of Thailand, Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York, A La Vieille Russie - New York, The Forbes Magazine Collection - New York, Pavlovsk Museum - Pavlovsk, Russian Academy of Sciences, Fersman Mineralogical Museum - Moscow, The Kremlin Armory - Moscow.
NB The figure is on display for viewing Monday 10 December – Friday 14 December, 11.00-15.00 and Monday 17 December 11.00-12.00 only by previously appointment with Henrik Münster-Swendsen, contact per e-mail henrik@lauritz.com.
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The auction is closing:
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17/12/2012 12:00:00
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Prior bids
Show
bids
| Customer no. | Date | Time (CET) | Bid | |
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879266
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17/12/2012
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11:51:51
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DKK
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425000
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226325
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17/12/2012
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11:49:37
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DKK
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420000
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879266
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17/12/2012
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11:26:37
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DKK
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415000
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903867
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17/12/2012
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10:25:27
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DKK
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410000
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879266
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17/12/2012
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11:26:15
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DKK
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410000
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903867
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17/12/2012
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10:24:29
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DKK
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405000
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879266
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14/12/2012
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11:13:57
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DKK
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400000
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