March 2008

April 16, 2008 Russian Works of Art Sotheby's New York includes Imperial Presentation Icons and other objects by Fabergé. Readers interested in receiving advance email alerts for Fabergé objects are invited to enroll with My Sotheby's at www.sothebys.com (Courtesy of Karen Kettering)

Related Reading: "Russians Push Up Prices of Rare Icons" in the Moscow Times, February 6, 2008, p.7.

General News

A lawsuit is currently underway in a London commercial court concerning the so-called Dr. Metzger Egg Clock exhibited in the 2000 Wilmington (DE) venue. A verdict has not been handed down.

Introducing Collectors and Their Passions

Dr. George Dean, a family physician, and his wife Vivian, are avid chess sets collectors. Among their treasures is a Fabergé set shown in the 2003 Art of Chess venue at the Gilbert Collection in London, and it was the feature selection in the “Ultimate Gifts Guide” of The Robb Report, December 2004.

Art of Chess Venue	Art & Antiques, March 2005

Provenance: The chess set was commissioned as a gift to the recipient during the ill-fated invasion of Manchuria in 1904, and is inscribed,

“To warmly beloved and dear Commander General Adjutant Alexei Nikolaevich Kuropatkin in memory of Manchuria 1904-05 from those devoted and grateful to him.”

Dr. Dean enjoys telling about the purchase of this set from the late A. Kenneth Snowman in 1977. It seems the set had just been placed in a display case at Wartski, the adverts were ready to appear in two distinguished art journals (Apollo and Connoisseur, December 1977, ad pages 105 and 11, respectively) ... and to this day the Fabergé set has been the pride and joy of these two collectors, along with a multitude of tearsheets from the two journals. Dr. Dean states that much to his dismay unauthorized reproductions made in Paris are on the market for $25,000.

Tawny aventurine quartz and gray Kalgan jasper

Kudos to classical concert guitarist Christian Thomas Lee, who shares his personal collection of fine art through the Arts in Schools program of the Mercy Foundation. His teaching collection of a silver-gilt enamel Fabergé teaspoon and a modern Rosebud Egg travels to poor inner city and rural schools in the United States where it is studied and enjoyed by children. “Waking up in a house full with beautiful things and sharing with children” is how he describes his passion. A provenance index accompanies his website.

Courtesy Christian Thomas Lee

February 14
Happy Valentine's Day!

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