The name Fabergé evokes images of art, beauty, mystery, and craftsmanship beyond anything that could be imagined at the time.
Effortless Perfection.
The first impression when observing a work by Fabergé. An illusion of course as they are everything but effortless.
Kenneth Snowman, former chairman of Wartski and leading Faberge expert, said that the animal carvings by Carl Faberge often fall into two groups. In some cases they are caricatures, not meant to capture the reality of the animal but more their spirit. Objects of whimsy, often with a sense of anthropomorphism (the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour animal) Often netsuke-inspired. The other group were the studies in miniature, faithfully reproducing every detail of the animal, the hardstone carefully chosen to mimic the natural coloring of the creature. A portrait as such.
I would say this falls pig leans more towards the former category. The detail is exquisite, capturing every detail of the subjects features and you can clearly sense the spirit and mood of the pig. The sublime agate selected for the carving is the perfect match to nature. A miniature work of sculpture.
Wild boar, Polished olive-brown agate, the ears set high, extremely thin-walled, the fur finely chiseled, small rubies set as eyes, edged in gold. Agate is a form of Chalcedony in which iron oxide causes varying shades of brown.
Height: 5 cm.
Width: 11 cm.
It looks easy but appearance is of course deceptive. Many hours of intense, highly skilled work by a team of craftspeople, each specializing in a specific element of the work at hand, lapidary, goldsmithing, mounting, setting.
The quality of this carving and the sensitive treatment of its subject compare favorably with a number of hardstone animal studies produced by the workshops of the Russian imperial jeweler Fabergé. Animal carvings are among the jeweler’s most celebrated creations, adored and collected by some of the most prominent figures of the early 20th century. Russia’s stone carving industry centered on the city of Yekaterinburg, where Fabergé acquired the workshop of lapidary Karl Woerffels around 1884, and it was this workshop that produced the majority of them – the carvers Kremlev, Derbyshev and Svetchnikov, managed by the German Alexander Meier. The stones were carefully selected by Carl Fabergé’s son Agathon, and were mostly of Russian origin, taking advantage of the rich mineral resources of the Ural mountains and Siberia. The unrivalled variety of materials has served as inspiration to a long tradition of lapidary , in which Russia excels. The animal carvings found immense popularity with a number of the firm’s key patrons, most notably the British Royal Family, whose collection boasts more than 350 animals, and Léopold de Rothschild, who had his racehorses similarly immortalized by Fabergé’s sculptors.
A number of realistically modelled farm animals including pigs were produced from life at the Sandringham estate in 1907, following a suggestion made to King Edward VII by Fabergé’s London agent Henry Bainbridge that the firm recreate a number of the animals across the estate. The largest order ever placed through Fabergés Loondon branch. With subjects ranging from the King’s own terrier dog Caesar, to the cows, pigs, ducks and chickens that populated the farmland around them, the animals of this ‘Sandringham Commission’ were reproduced in wax sculptures by the carver Boris Frödman-Cluzel, before being sent back to the Russian workshops to be immortalized in hardstone. They were then sent back to Fabergé’s London branch for purchase, mostly, but not exclusively, by those who wished to gift them back to the Royal Family. Such was the appeal that some were even acquired by members of the family themselves.
King Edward VII was particularly proud of his pigs and sent the best of his herd to The Royal Society Show in June 1911. Pigs were one of Fabergé’s more popular animal studies in their native Russia, with several examples recorded in the collection of Empress Maria Feodorovna, and are also among the most humorous and varied of their miniature sculptures. Records show that pigs were bought, several each, by Queen Alexandra, King George V, Queen Mary and Princess Victoria. There are nineteen pigs or piglets in the Royal Collections today. Fabergé´s figurines were no less valuable than his gold jewelry. It was a gift that would not go unnoticed but was a good alternative whe jewelry was not suitable. The Grand duchess began collecting them and fashionable society followed suit.
Faberge’s sculptors produced a wide variety of pigs, keenly observed from life.
Provenance: Bought according to previous owner at A La Vieille Russie New York.
For reference: see RCIN 40260 wild boar by Boris Frödman-Cluzel, a series of carved hardstone pigs by Fabergé in the Royal Collection, collection nos. RCIN 40041, 40038, 40421 and 40422, commissioned by the Royal Family and studied by Fabergé’s sculptor Boris Frödman-Cluzel from life at the Sandringham estate in 1907.Cf.: The Robert Strauss Collection of Works of Art by Fabergé, Christie’s, 9th March 1976, lot 28, and A. Kenneth Snowman, The Art of Carl Fabergé, 1972, no.237.
