December  2007

Sold to the highest bidder!

The Rothschild Fabergé Clock
Courtesy Christie's

Russian Bidding Battle as Crowing Cockerel Egg by Fabergé Fetches £9 million ($18,5 million) by Dalya Alberge

“A salesroom overflowing with hundreds of onlookers fell silent as the auctioneer announced that Lot 55 was next. The bidding lasted for more than five minutes as six determined collectors fought to acquire it (The Rothschild Fabergé Egg*) … The previous record for a Russian object was established by the Fabergé Winter Egg sold at Christie’s in New York in 2002 for £6.62 million ($9,6 million) … Most of the sale proceeds will go to a charitable foundation that primarily supports classical musical causes.”  (The Times [London], November 29, 2007, 42)

The successful bidder was Alexander Ivanov, active in the auction market since 1994. (Moscow Times, November 19, 1994)

My £9m Fabergé Egg was a Bargain

“Russian businessman Alexander Ivanov, who helped found Russia’s first private museum (in 1993), has a passion for Tsarist treasures … Mr. Ivanov, who bid in person at Christie’s in London, said it would be exhibited in his museum (The Russian National Museum). He added: ‘This egg was acquired cheaply – the price is nothing compared to its superior quality.’ ”  
(Daily Mail [London], November 30, 2007, 30)

* Fabergé scholars are not in agreement that this object should be called an egg – they suggest it is a clock made in the shape of an egg. Made in 1902 by Fabergé, but not presented at Easter to the recipient, it was a present from Béatrice Ephrussi, the wife of a banker from Odessa, Russia, to Germaine Halphen, on the occasion of the latter’s engagement to Béatrice’s younger brother, Baron Edouard de Rothschild. He was a member of the French branch of the Jewish Rothschild banking family. A photograph of the clock has been found in a 1964 publication.

Readers interested in highlights from the auction are referred to http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/Other-Eggs/1902-rothschild-egg-sale.htm

Fabergé Enthusiasts from Italy, the Netherlands, UK and USA in London
(Courtesy Enzo Ascione)

Two Lost Fabergé Imperial Eggs Discovered in an Archival Photograph

Fabergé enthusiasts Anna and Vincent Palmade recently discovered in an enlarged photograph of a vitrine from the 1902 St. Petersburg von Dervis Exhibition the missing 1888 Cherub with Chariot and the 1889 Nécessaire Imperial Fabergé eggs. These lost eggs were Easter gifts from Tsar Alexander III to his wife the Empress Maria Fedorovna. The eggs were confiscated by the Kerensky provisional government in 1917 and left the Soviet Union through unofficial channels after 1922. Their current whereabouts are unknown and until this discovery, there were no known photographs or design sketches for these two eggs.

Swezey, Marilyn Pfeifer in The Fabergé Menagerie, 2003, 22.

To read more about the Palmade’s research journey see Recent Discoveries.

Happy Holidays to Fabergé Friends and Enthusiasts Everywhere in the World!

Readers of this newsletter are invited to share information about Fabergé happenings worldwide.