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Lot Essay
This rare bonbonnière was acquired by Mr. Thomas Drake Martinez Cardeza (1875-1952) from Fabergé’s London branch on 16 December 1907 for the sum of £66 15s. Cardeza was a wealthy American banker, explorer, and art collector, and is best remembered today as a survivor of the Titanic disaster.
The son of Charlotte Cardeza (1854-1939) and grandson of the Philadelphia textile magnate Thomas Drake, Cardeza was born into a great fortune. In 1902, he married Marie Racine (1880-1943), a descendant of the celebrated French dramatist Jean-Baptiste Racine. The couple acquired the Radmer estate in Austria-Hungary, in addition to properties in New York and Pennsylvania, and led a cosmopolitan lifestyle traveling around the world. They frequently accompanied Charlotte Cardeza on hunting expeditions and shopping trips across Europe, acquiring works of art and jewelry from the finest boutiques.
In April 1912, Thomas and Charlotte Cardeza boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg while returning from a safari in Africa. Charlotte Cardeza had purchased tickets for the ship’s most opulent ‘Millionaire’s Suite’ and was among the wealthiest passengers aboard, traveling with fourteen trunks, four suitcases, and three crates of luggage. Charlotte Cardeza and her son were rescued in a lifeboat, together with their maid and valet.
During the First World War, Thomas Cardeza served as a diplomat in Vienna, then part of Austria-Hungary, while his wife worked as a nurse with the Red Cross. The couple had no children, and upon his death in 1952, Cardeza bequeathed the family fortune to the Charlotte Drake Cardeza Foundation for Hematological Research at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
We are grateful to Dmitry Krivoshey for his assistance with the research of the present lot.
The son of Charlotte Cardeza (1854-1939) and grandson of the Philadelphia textile magnate Thomas Drake, Cardeza was born into a great fortune. In 1902, he married Marie Racine (1880-1943), a descendant of the celebrated French dramatist Jean-Baptiste Racine. The couple acquired the Radmer estate in Austria-Hungary, in addition to properties in New York and Pennsylvania, and led a cosmopolitan lifestyle traveling around the world. They frequently accompanied Charlotte Cardeza on hunting expeditions and shopping trips across Europe, acquiring works of art and jewelry from the finest boutiques.
In April 1912, Thomas and Charlotte Cardeza boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg while returning from a safari in Africa. Charlotte Cardeza had purchased tickets for the ship’s most opulent ‘Millionaire’s Suite’ and was among the wealthiest passengers aboard, traveling with fourteen trunks, four suitcases, and three crates of luggage. Charlotte Cardeza and her son were rescued in a lifeboat, together with their maid and valet.
During the First World War, Thomas Cardeza served as a diplomat in Vienna, then part of Austria-Hungary, while his wife worked as a nurse with the Red Cross. The couple had no children, and upon his death in 1952, Cardeza bequeathed the family fortune to the Charlotte Drake Cardeza Foundation for Hematological Research at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
We are grateful to Dmitry Krivoshey for his assistance with the research of the present lot.