Egg-shaped bibelot
Fabergé
Category
Objets de vertu
Date
c. 1914
Materials
rhodonite, rose-cut diamond, gold
Measurements
45 mm (Length)35 mm (W)
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1247132
Summary
Polished rhodonite egg-shaped bibelot, c.1914 by Fabergé. The plain polished mottled pink and brown rhodonite egg bissected to open along the horizontal plane decorated with a rose-cut diamond-set snowflake-hinged clasp and matching snowflake-hinged gold back. Scratch engraved ‘Faberge’ in Cyrillic characters on the inside of the hinged snowflake clasp. Natural internal fissures in the stone. Two rose diamonds deficient. The hinge with one rose diamond spear-shape section deficient; glue deposits. Original fitted Hollywood case, velvet- and satin-lined, the inner satin lining stamped ‘Faberge; Moscow; London’. A similar, egg-shaped box of rhodonite designed by Mikhail Perhkhin (1860–1903) but with a diamond fleur-de-lys clasp forms part of the Royal Collection (RCIN 8973).
Provenance
The bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943. This item found on the record for Polesden Lacey miniatures and small objects in the strong room, page 118.
Makers and roles
Fabergé, jeweller
