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Lot Essay
The present rare study of a pansy flower shows the extraordinary skill of the enameler in imitating the matte surface of the flower. An original Fabergé design for a very similar pansy flower is illustrated in Henrik Wigström’s design book held in the National Library of Finland (see U. Tillander-Godenhielm, Fabergé: The Twilight Years, Drawings and Objects from the Second Henrik Wigström Album, 2023, p. 191).
Pansies were a favored flower amongst Fabergé’s royal and imperial patrons, most notably used in the decoration of the 1899 Imperial Pansy Easter Egg, given by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Maria Feodorovna. Another example closely related in both technique and design is a remarkable mechanical pansy flower concealing miniature portraits of the children of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna, now housed in the Moscow Kremlin Museums. It was presented by Nicholas II to his wife in 1904 to commemorate their tenth wedding anniversary.
The Hammer Galleries invoice for the present pansy records its provenance as in the collection of Emperor Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. Notably, a pansy flower with the scratched inventory number ‘24896’, differing by only two digits from '24898' on the present lot, was acquired by Nicholas II from Fabergé in December 1915. It was one of the last flower studies purchased by the Imperial family (see R. Gafifullin, Fabergé Items of Late XIX – Early XX Century in the Collection of the State Museum of Pavlovsk, vol. IX, Part I, St. Petersburg, 2013, p. 310, no. 5879).
Queen Alexandra (1844-1925) shared the Imperial family’s fondness for pansies and acquired three Fabergé pansy studies with enameled flowers and nephrite leaves, now part of the Royal Collection Trust (see C. de Guitaut, Fabergé in the Royal Collection, London, 2003, pp. 106-107, nos. 118-120).
Pansies were a favored flower amongst Fabergé’s royal and imperial patrons, most notably used in the decoration of the 1899 Imperial Pansy Easter Egg, given by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Maria Feodorovna. Another example closely related in both technique and design is a remarkable mechanical pansy flower concealing miniature portraits of the children of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna, now housed in the Moscow Kremlin Museums. It was presented by Nicholas II to his wife in 1904 to commemorate their tenth wedding anniversary.
The Hammer Galleries invoice for the present pansy records its provenance as in the collection of Emperor Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. Notably, a pansy flower with the scratched inventory number ‘24896’, differing by only two digits from '24898' on the present lot, was acquired by Nicholas II from Fabergé in December 1915. It was one of the last flower studies purchased by the Imperial family (see R. Gafifullin, Fabergé Items of Late XIX – Early XX Century in the Collection of the State Museum of Pavlovsk, vol. IX, Part I, St. Petersburg, 2013, p. 310, no. 5879).
Queen Alexandra (1844-1925) shared the Imperial family’s fondness for pansies and acquired three Fabergé pansy studies with enameled flowers and nephrite leaves, now part of the Royal Collection Trust (see C. de Guitaut, Fabergé in the Royal Collection, London, 2003, pp. 106-107, nos. 118-120).