.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The Imperial Russian court was renowned for presenting lavish gifts to Russian and foreign dignitaries, a tradition that flourished especially during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II. The responsibility of purchasing and allocating these gifts, under the strict supervision of the Emperor, was given to the Imperial Cabinet, which maintained detailed ledgers. These ledgers contain the description of each item, its cost, the name of the Court supplier and the name of the recipient.
The present vase was manufactured by the Imperial Porcelain Factory during the reign of Nicholas II. The incised signature A. Luk. is almost certainly that of Anatoly Lukin, a sculptor and modeler, who was active at the factory in the early twentieth century.
The vase was first entered in the Imperial Cabinet's ledgers on December 2, 1908 under the stock number 324 at a cost of 200 roubles.
As discovered by Dr. Valentin Skurlov, a decision was made to increase the value of this vase, and other similar porcelain vases in the Imperial Cabinet stock, by adding silver mounts. The artist and teacher at the Stieglitz School of Technical Drawing, Pavel Dolgov, was commissioned to create a design for the silver mounts based on the Russian state coat-of-arms. The completed design was then sent to the workshop of Fabergé's head silversmith, Julius Rappoport, which produced the silver mounts.
Once completed and fitted with the silver mounts, the vase was re-entered in the Imperial Cabinet's ledgers on December 2, 1908 under stock number 326 with an increased cost of 560 roubles. Subsequently, the vase was assigned the new stock number 87 and finally re-entered in the Imperial Cabinet ledgers as: Porcelain vase, pink with griffins, work of Imp.[erial] Porcel.[ain] fact.[ory], decorated in silver [by the] jewel.[er] Fabergé (fig 1).
The Imperial Cabinet ledgers faithfully record the dates of all outgoing gifts and the names of their recipients. Interestingly, this vase was never presented by Emperor Nicholas II and it remained in the Cabinet's stock until the Revolution in 1917. By the late 1940s, the vase had found its way to Hammer Galleries in New York. Armand Hammer famously acquired quantities of Russian works of art from the Soviet authorities in the 1920s and 1930s, and it is likely the vase was one of the many works acquired by Hammer during this period. In 1949, Hammer Galleries sold the vase to India Early Minshall (1885-1965), the renowned American collector of Fabergé, part of whose important collection, which includes the Imperial Red Cross Egg (1915), was donated to the Cleveland Museum of Art. The remaining part of the Minshall collection, including the present vase and other Russian works, was donated to The Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, which eventually deaccessioned the works. The present vase was among those deaccessioned works sold at Christie's in 1988, where it was acquired by the present owner.
We are grateful to Dr. Valentin Skurlov for his assistance with the research of the present lot.
The present vase was manufactured by the Imperial Porcelain Factory during the reign of Nicholas II. The incised signature A. Luk. is almost certainly that of Anatoly Lukin, a sculptor and modeler, who was active at the factory in the early twentieth century.
The vase was first entered in the Imperial Cabinet's ledgers on December 2, 1908 under the stock number 324 at a cost of 200 roubles.
As discovered by Dr. Valentin Skurlov, a decision was made to increase the value of this vase, and other similar porcelain vases in the Imperial Cabinet stock, by adding silver mounts. The artist and teacher at the Stieglitz School of Technical Drawing, Pavel Dolgov, was commissioned to create a design for the silver mounts based on the Russian state coat-of-arms. The completed design was then sent to the workshop of Fabergé's head silversmith, Julius Rappoport, which produced the silver mounts.
Once completed and fitted with the silver mounts, the vase was re-entered in the Imperial Cabinet's ledgers on December 2, 1908 under stock number 326 with an increased cost of 560 roubles. Subsequently, the vase was assigned the new stock number 87 and finally re-entered in the Imperial Cabinet ledgers as: Porcelain vase, pink with griffins, work of Imp.[erial] Porcel.[ain] fact.[ory], decorated in silver [by the] jewel.[er] Fabergé (fig 1).
The Imperial Cabinet ledgers faithfully record the dates of all outgoing gifts and the names of their recipients. Interestingly, this vase was never presented by Emperor Nicholas II and it remained in the Cabinet's stock until the Revolution in 1917. By the late 1940s, the vase had found its way to Hammer Galleries in New York. Armand Hammer famously acquired quantities of Russian works of art from the Soviet authorities in the 1920s and 1930s, and it is likely the vase was one of the many works acquired by Hammer during this period. In 1949, Hammer Galleries sold the vase to India Early Minshall (1885-1965), the renowned American collector of Fabergé, part of whose important collection, which includes the Imperial Red Cross Egg (1915), was donated to the Cleveland Museum of Art. The remaining part of the Minshall collection, including the present vase and other Russian works, was donated to The Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, which eventually deaccessioned the works. The present vase was among those deaccessioned works sold at Christie's in 1988, where it was acquired by the present owner.
We are grateful to Dr. Valentin Skurlov for his assistance with the research of the present lot.