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Lot Essay
This elegant amethyst and diamond brooch by Fabergé with scratched inventory number '96826' appears on a list of a relatively small group of items that Eugène Fabergé (1874-1960), the eldest son of Carl Fabergé, managed to export from Soviet Russia to Stockholm in July 1919. The brooch is recorded under the title 'Cocoa' on the list, indicating that it was transported in a cocoa powder tin alongside other small jewelry pieces. Its listed value is 18,500, most likely in Swedish krona.
In December 1918, just over a year after the Revolution, Eugène Fabergé crossed the Finnish border with his mother Augusta. Carl Fabergé had escaped Russia shortly before them, in September 1918, under disguise as a courier with the British legation. Eugène lived with his mother in Helsinki and Stockholm for just over a year, awaiting a visa and arranging the family's financial affairs. During this period, he was able to get several pieces of jewelry out of Russia with the assistance of friends and associates.
In 1920, Eugène, together with his brother Alexander, relocated to Paris. In 1922, they established the firm Fabergé & Co., dealing primarily in jewelry. It is known that Eugène Fabergé met Armand Hammer and his bother Victor in Paris in the 1930s, and it is possible that the present brooch was sold to the Hammers then.
We are grateful to Dmitry Krivoshey for his assistance with the research of the present lot.
In December 1918, just over a year after the Revolution, Eugène Fabergé crossed the Finnish border with his mother Augusta. Carl Fabergé had escaped Russia shortly before them, in September 1918, under disguise as a courier with the British legation. Eugène lived with his mother in Helsinki and Stockholm for just over a year, awaiting a visa and arranging the family's financial affairs. During this period, he was able to get several pieces of jewelry out of Russia with the assistance of friends and associates.
In 1920, Eugène, together with his brother Alexander, relocated to Paris. In 1922, they established the firm Fabergé & Co., dealing primarily in jewelry. It is known that Eugène Fabergé met Armand Hammer and his bother Victor in Paris in the 1930s, and it is possible that the present brooch was sold to the Hammers then.
We are grateful to Dmitry Krivoshey for his assistance with the research of the present lot.