ENGRAVED FABERGÉ, WITH THE WORKMASTER'S MARK OF MICHAEL PERCHIN, ST PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1890, SCRATCHED INVENTORY NUMBER 52383

This large gold-mounted model of an elephant and castle was most likely inspired by the Order of the Elephant, the highest order of chivalry in Denmark. A number of models of elephants and castles were produced by Fabergé in the 1890s as gifts presented by Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna to members of their family.

This elephant is illustrated in Henry Bainbridge’s memoirs as part of the large hardstone animals collection of Countess de Torby, wife of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich. ‘This esteemed lady collected Fabergé elephants; that is the most significant thing I can say about her, because it implies a quiet, undisturbed and jolly humour.’ (H.C. Bainbridge, Peter Carl Fabergé, London, 1949, p. 89).

Other examples of these models from the Wernher collection at Luton Hoo are illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Fabergé, Kunsthalle of the Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich, 1986-1987, p. 201, pl. 348; and another example is in the collection of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, illustrated in C. de Guitaut, Fabergé in the Royal Collection, London, 2003, p. 100, no. 115. Comparable models of elephants with castles were sold at Christie's, London, 25 November 2013, lots 216 and 217.