Life Happens: Apologies for the Fall and Winter 2024 Edition being late.
Spring Edition 2025 in May, and Summer Edition 2025 in June.
Opportunities for Fabergé Enthusiasts to View Fabergé Objects and to Visit with Old Friends and Make New Ones in 2025
The
Fabergé Research Newsletter has published reports on large gatherings:
Permanent venues are listed on the Fabergé Research Site – Exhibitions.
Exhibitions in London (UK)
Fabergé enthusiasts interested in meeting to view the King’s Gallery and the Wartski Jeweler exhibitions in London during the first two weeks of October 2025 (exact dates to be determined), please contact Tim Adams.
April 11, 2025 – November 23, 2025
The King’s Gallery (formerly the Queen’s Galley) opens
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance with over 20 pieces of Fabergé.
April 12, 2025 – November 16, 2025. Victoria & Albert Museum unveils an exhibition of 350 pieces of Cartier Jewelry. This French jeweler worked in St. Petersburg at the time of Fabergé prior to 1917. Of the 19 Fabergé objects in the permanent V&A collection only three are on public display.
October 1-12, 2025 Wartski Jeweler will celebrate its 160th anniversary with a loan exhibition, From Function to Fantasy: The Brooch. Four Fabergé brooches in the Imperial Russian section and ca. 11 Fabergé brooches of different materials from private collections will be shown. Thank you for the advance information for the Fabergé Research Newsletter.
The jewelry shop of Bentley and Skinner in London is offering 35 Fabergé objects on its website.
Dreweatts in London published a video interview with Fabergé historian Geoffrey Munn highlighting several pieces from its March 19, 2025, auction.
The Story of Two Fabergé Brooches and Their Connection to Viktor Aarne’s Studio in Viipuri, Finland
By Timothy Adams (USA)
Two lovely brooches created over a hundred years ago have an interesting connection to Viktor Aarne’s success in his Finnish jewelry business after leaving Russia around 1904. A gold brooch with lilies of the valley flowers (D.) was showcased in December 2024 at a Bukowskis auction in Helsinki, Finland, and an amethyst brooch (E.) at M.S. Rau, an antique dealer in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA) in February 2025. They were originally created during Imperial times by two well-known workmasters (A. – B.) in the original Fabergé workshop in St. Petersburg, Russia.
(A.) Viktor Aarne (1863-1934) – workmaster
mark BA 
– active 1891-1904, returned
to Viipuri (Vyborg), Finland, in 1904 as an
independent jeweler with a successful
jewelry business of a workshop and a retail
store for another thirty years with the
JVA mark.
(Wikipedia)
(B.) August Hollming
(1854-1913) – workmaster mark
A*H 
– active 1880-1913.
One of his specialties with the Fabergé
firm were small gem-set brooches.
(Wikipedia)
(C.) Workshop and Retail Shop with Viktor Aarne Standing in the Center of His Studio in Viipuri (Vyborg), Finland. In 1904, Aarne sold his Fabergé-affiliated
workshop due to growing political unrest in Russia, and moved back to Finland.
(Courtesy Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, Fabergé: His Masters and Artisans, 2018, pp. 196, 198, 200; Aarne’s biographical sketch on Sotheby’s Artists website)
Marks on the Brooches Tell the Story! Both Brooches Have Fabergé Workmaster Marks.
(D.) “18K gold brooch, with enamel and rose-cut diamonds, Vyborg 1906. Estimate 650-750 EUR.” Brief lot
description by Bulkowskis Auction, Helsinki, Finland (subsidiary of the British Bonhams auction conglomerate),
appeared on December 4, 2024, Lot 1582371. Unfortunately, the Lilies of Valley brooch is shown upside down
on the auction website (the blossoms should face down). The lot is also without a workmaster identification
in the auction entry. For the current research study, the brooch has been inverted since lilies of the valley
display their blooms toward the earth. Neither a maker’s mark nor the Fabergé affiliation is acknowledged in the
very short auction lot description. The details were discovered by a team of keen Fabergé enthusiasts.
(Photographs Courtesy Bukowski, Helsinki)
(E.) Text extracted from a lengthy essay about the Fabergé brooch with
two stunning Siberian cabochon amethysts set in 14K rose gold with a
round-cut diamond. Crafted by August Hollming’s Fabergé workshop
and then resold in Finland by Viktor Aarne in a J.V. Aarne retail box—a
rarity for Fabergé works. $98,500, Item #32-0579
(Photograph Courtesy M.S. Rau, New Orleans, LA; Featured in the
Wall Street Journal, February 8-9, 2025, A5)
CLICK THE ABOVE PICTURE FOR A LARGER VIEW
1. (B)A – only the A shows (Viktor Aarne (1863-1934),
St. Petersburg workmaster mark BA (active 1891-1904).
2. Crown – Official assay mark for Finland. Applied by
the Official Assay Authorities of the Grand Duchy of
Finland (1809-1917) and the Republic of Finland (1917-?).
3. European stamp of 750 for 18K gold. A5 for the year 1906.
4. W – Viipuri (Vyborg) city mark, Wiborg is an older name
for the city and the location of the Assay Office.
CLICK THE ABOVE PICTURES FOR A LARGER VIEW
1. 56 Russian mark for 14K gold.
2. Russian kokoshnik stamp (woman’s head facing to the left) dates
the brooch to 1899-1908 and assayer’s date mark for 1899-1908.
3. August Hollming (1854-1913) – workmaster mark A*H (active 1880-1913).
Of special interest to Fabergé scholars is the Bukowskis brooch (D.) with its Viipuri mark for 1906 and Aarne’s
BA workmaster mark in Cyrillic (1891-1904) stating it was created in his St. Petersburg Fabergé workshop, since his Finnish mark was
JVA (
Johan Viktor Aarne in Latin letters). In a conversation with Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, author of
Fabergé: His Masters and Artisans, about this unusual combination of hallmarks she suggested:
“My hypothesis is the brooch was brought to Viipuri by Aarne in a semi-finished state and not assayed, along with a lot of other material from his independent St. Petersburg workshop. At some point (1906), he decided to sell it in his Finnish retail shop and therefore, had it assayed there.”
She further noted the pin on the brooch is more “robust” than those used by Fabergé, so it must have been added in Viipuri.
The M.S. Rau brooch with the August Hollming A*H mark (E.) has two cabochon-cut Siberian amethysts, weighing 26.85 and 29.36 carats. They have uniquely faceted pavilions giving them beautiful dimension and depth. The amethyst brooch is in a J.V. Aarne Viipuri presentation case (F.) which bears witness to being sold through Aarne’s Finnish retail shop.
(F.) Amethyst Brooch in a J.V. Aarne Viipuri presentation box. It has an Arne imprint on
its silk lining stating it was sold through Aarne’s Finnish retail shop.
(Courtesy M.S. Rau, New Orleans, LA)
Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm added: The amethyst brooch could have been a piece someone fleeing from Russia sold to Aarne, and he resold it through his retail shop. Refugees sold their jewelry to have money in a new country because it was portable and easily hidden. For thirty years Aarne kept in contact with his old colleagues in St. Petersburg and even bought silver items from them to resell in his shop.
1 He was very successful in Viipuri, which remained a Finnish city until after the Russo-Finnish War (1939-1940), when it was ceded to Russia.
It is fascinating what hallmarks can reveal about the history of a piece of jewelry, the artists who made the object, when and where they were made, and with some luck, the hands it has passed through over time.
ENDNOTES:
1 Tillander-Godenhielm, Fabergé: His Masters and Artisans, 2018, p. 200.
Research Highlights for the Fabergé 1897 Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Brooch
Gathered by Galina Korneva (Russia), Riana Benko (Slovenia),
DeeAnn Hoff, Christel Ludewig McCanless, and Roy Tomlin (USA)
(A.) 2014: Camilla, Duchess of
Cornwall, Wearing the Fabergé 1897
Queen Victoria Diamond
Jubilee Brooch
(Courtesy of Ursula Butschal, Royal
Magazin | Fabergé Research
Newsletter, Winter 2014)
From 1897-2010 for 113 years, the archival details of a Fabergé brooch in the British Royal Collection Trust and in recent years often worn by Camilla, Queen Consort of King Charles III, have not been known. The brooch was originally a gift to Queen Victoria (1819-1901) from four of her Hessian grandchildren and their spouses on the occasion of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee marking the 60th year of her reign and celebrated on June 22, 1897. Galina Korneva and her sister, Tatiana Cheboksarova (1944-2023), challenged Fabergé Research Newsletter readers in 2010 to find the Fabergé brooch (A.) with an Imperial provenance:
“Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland (1819-1901) celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of her reign in 1897. Spectacular celebrations took place in her country.
The Illustrated London News printed a special beautifully decorated issue devoted to the event. Among many other presents the Queen received a brooch commissioned from Carl Fabergé by Victoria’s grandchildren from Hesse-Darmstadt.” (
Fabergé Research Newsletter,
Summer 2010).
A chronology evolved over the years with these highlights:
(B.) 1897 Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee
Brooch by Fabergé
(Courtesy of the Royal Collection
Trust/All Rights Reserved)
Letter Ksi from the Old Cyrillic
Alphabet = Number 60, Not Used in Russia
since Early 1700’s
(Wikipedia)
1897 – Gift to Queen Victoria (1819-1901) by Her Hessian Grandchildren (B.)
2010 – “Searching for a Fabergé Brooch.” (Fabergé Research Newsletter, Summer 2010)
May 9, 2014 – “Queen Victoria’s Fabergé Sapphire Brooch | Royal Jewels” (Royal Magazin in English & German)
2022 – Brooch Worn by Queen Camilla, Consort of King Charles III, at the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) (Royal Magazin)
2023 – August Holmström, (Workmaster mark AH 
– Active 1857-1903) Fabergé Design Sketch (C.) Discovered by the London Jeweler Wartski and described as the Hesse Jubilee Brooch.
The fascination of more successful research and possibly finding the 1897 Queen Victoria
Diamond Jubilee Brooch – since 2023 also known as the Hesse Jubilee Brooch – was suggested by Korneva and Cheboksarova after their earlier finds in the Fund of the Chancellery of Empress Alexandra, the Russian State Historical Archives (RGIA) in St. Petersburg. A verbatim copy of an original note written in English (E.) by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918) and further specifics on the gift and donors (F.) was included in the authors’ challenge in the
Fabergé Research Newsletter,
Summer 2010. In a later study of the archival documents it became clear four of the five surviving children of Grand Duchess Alice (1843-1878) and Grand Duke Ludwig IV (1837-1892) of Hesse and by Rhine gave to their grandmother, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a brooch with diamonds and sapphires commissioned from the Russian Court Jeweler Carl Fabergé in 1897. Archival records indicate the Queen’s grandchildren and their spouses (D.) donated different amounts for the Fabergé gift and it is confirmed the money was sent and received in time.
(D.) Hesse Family Gathering, Darmstadt, 1894.
(Fabergé Research Newsletter, Summer 2010)
Top Row: Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Empress Alexandra
Feodorovna of Russia, Princess Victoria of Battenberg,
Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine
Bottom Row: Princess Irene of Prussia (did not contribute
to the gift), Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna of Russia,
Grand Duchess Victoria Melita of Hesse and by Rhine,
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia
100 Rubles Pr And Pr-ss Battenberg
200 Rubles Gr D and Gr Duchess of Hesse
300 Rubles Gr D and Gr Duchess Serge
400 Rubles The Emperor and I
1000 Rubles
(Fund of the Chancellery of Empress Alexandra, the Russian State Historical Archives (RGIA) in St. Petersburg)
Contributors to the brooch:
-
Princess Victoria (1863-1950) and her husband Prince Ludwig (1854-1921) of Battenberg (not pictured)
-
Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig (1868-1937) of Hesse and by Rhine with his wife Grand Duchess Victoria Melita (1876-1936)
-
Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna (1864-1918, aka Ella) and her husband Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857-1905) of Russia
-
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918, aka Alix) and her husband Emperor Nicholas II (1868-1918) of Russia.
One Hessian sibling, Princess Irene (1866-1953), and her husband, Prince Henry of Prussia (1862-1929) did not contribute funds for this Fabergé brooch. The reason for this is unclear at this time, but perhaps the Prussian royal couple presented their own gift to Queen Victoria, or in conjunction with other members of the German Imperial Family. Princess Irene of Hesse joined the German Imperial Family, the Hohenzollerns, upon her marriage to her first cousin Prince Henry of Prussia on May 24, 1888. Prince Henry was a grandson of Queen Victoria through his mother Empress Victoria of Germany (1840-1901), previously Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom, the eldest daughter of the Queen and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819-1861).
Records in the Fund of the Chancellery of Empress Alexandra, the Russian State Historical Archives (RGIA) in St. Petersburg (РГИА. Фонд 525. Опись 1 (вн. 198/2686). File 89. L. 1,5,17)
(E.) Фонд 525 | опись 1 (198/2686) | дело 89
Л. 1 Письмо Начальника Кабинета принца Людвига фон Баттенберг господина Menges от 2 июня 1897 из Дармштадта (о доставлении взноса на подарок Королеве Виктории).
Л. 5
Копия с собственноручной Ея Императорского Величества Александры Феодоровны записки на имя графа Ламсдорфа от 14 июнч 1897 года на английском языке.
“This is a mistake, they must only give 100 Rubel, wh. makes 200 Marks. Please, keep the 100 Rubels (the other kindly return) and when I get the rest, Fabergé must have it.
100 R. Pr and Pr-ss Battenberg
200 R. Gr D and Gr Duchess of Hesse
300 R. Gr D and Gr Duchess Serge
400 R. The Emperor and I
1000 R.
You must take the 200 r. from my sums and 200 r. from the Emperors. We gave Fabergé the 3 sapphires from the ‘Cabinet’ for the brooch. 1897 from Darmstadt. (on the delivery of a contribution for a gift to Queen Victoria)
(E.) Fund 525 | Inventory 1 (198/2686) | case 89
L. 1 A Letter from the Chief of the Cabinet of Prince Ludwig of Battenberg, Mr. Menges, dated June 2, 1897, from Darmstadt (on the delivery of a contribution for a gift to Queen Victoria)
L. 5
A copy of Her Imperial Majesty Alexandra Feodorovna’s handwritten note to Count Lamsdorf dated June 14, 1897, in English.
This is a mistake, they must only give 100 Rubles, which makes 200 Marks. Please, keep the 100 Rubles (the other kindly return) and when I get the rest, Fabergé must have it.
100 Rubles Prince and Princess Battenberg
200 Rubles Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hesse
300 Rubles Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Serge
400 Rubles The Emperor and I [Nicholas and Alexandra]
1000 Rubles
You must take the 200 rubles from my sums and 200 rubles from the Emperor’s. We gave Fabergé the 3 sapphires from the ‘Cabinet’ for the brooch. 1897 from Darmstadt. (on the delivery of a contribution for a gift to Queen Victoria)
(F.) Верно: Вольф | июля 1897 | No. 2739
Л. 12
Временно Исполняющему обязанности Заведующего Двором Его Императорского Высочества Великого князя Сергея Александровича.
Ея Величество Государыня Императрица Александра Федоровна Высочайше соизволила повелеть мне передать Вашему Превосходительству, что из следующих в уплату за подарок, предназначенный Ея Величеству Королеве Великобританской по случаю 60-летняго юбилея от имени Их Императорских Величеств, Их Императорских Высочеств Великого князя Сергея Александровича и Великой княгини Елизаветы Феодоровны, Их Королевских Высочеств Великого Герцога и Великой Герцогини Гессенской, Ея Великогерцогского Высочества Принцессы Баттенбергской и Его Светлости Принца Баттенбергского доля Их Императорских Высочеств Великого князя Сергея Александровича и Великой княгини Елизаветы Федоровны составляет триста рублей.
В исполнение такового Высочайшего повеления имею честь обратиться к Вашему Превосходительству с покорнейшею просьбою не отказать в благосклонном распоряжении о доставлении мне вышеозначенных денег. Секретарь Ея Величества граф Ламздорф За Делопроизводителя: Вольф
Л. 17
23 августа 1897 г.
По счету Фаберже за брошь, предназначенную в подарок Королеве Великобританской, плачено 1055 р.
(F.) Correct: Wolf | July 1897 | No. 2739
L. 12
Acting Head of the Court of His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.
Her Majesty the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna has deigned to command me to convey to Your Excellency, that of the following in payment for the gift intended to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain on the occasion of her 60th anniversary on behalf of Their Imperial Majesties, Their Imperial Highnesses Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, Their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hesse, Her Grand Ducal Highness the Princess of Battenberg and His Serene Highness the Prince of Battenberg, the share of Their Imperial Highnesses Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna is 300 rubles.
In fulfillment of this Highest command, I have the honor to turn to Your Excellency with the most-humble request not to refuse the favorable order to deliver me the above-mentioned money. Her Majesty’s Secretary Count Lamsdorf for Clerk: Wolf
L. 17
August 23, 1897
According to Fabergé’s invoice for a brooch intended as a gift to the Queen of Great Britain, 1055 rubles were paid.
(Estimated 2024 value: $21,000, Translation review: Courtesy Galina Korneva)
Brief summary of the brooch in the last decade:
2014 The German internet publication Royal Magazin included photographs of the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee brooch with a brief text showing the brooch being worn by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (A.), but unfortunately without dated bibliographic citations. Through the courtesy and generosity of Ursula Butshal, owner of the Royal Magazin (in German and English), the Winter 2014 edition of the Fabergé Research Newsletter, shared the photograph.
August 16, 2018 The Court Jeweler showcased a series of Getty Photographic Images of Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, wearing the brooch at various official British court functions. On September 19, 2022, Queen Camilla, previously the Duchess of Cornwall, wore the Fabergé jubilee brooch during the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) at Westminster Abbey. Images from the funeral were featured by the Court Jeweler. Permission to reproduce State Funeral photographs of Queen Camilla wearing the brooch in this newsletter are prohibitive for a non-profit scholarly art history website without subscription fees and advertising where Fabergé enthusiasts, without remuneration, share their research efforts and new findings.
2023 Research by the staff at the London Fabergé dealer Wartski discovered and published a connection in the Holmström workshop albums – the jeweler’s bench design (C.) drawn in pencil on a card and they described the jewel as the Hesse Jubilee Brooch. The ingenious design (B.) incorporates a diamond ‘Ksi’ within a diamond heart. The ancient Cyrillic letter ‘Ksi’ (Ѯ, ѯ) derived from the Greek letter Xi (Ξ, ξ) represents the value “60” when used as a number. In Holmström’s original design the brooch is surmounted by a diamond and suspends “what appear to be two drop shaped pearls”. The diamond and pearls were subsequently replaced by the three sapphires provided from the Imperial Cabinet by the Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. After Queen Victoria’s death, the Jubilee brooch was bequeathed to her third daughter, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, born Princess Helena (1846-1923). At some point, the brooch was returned to the British Royal Collection. The Wartski essay credits Galina Korneva for her research, but unfortunately Galina’s sister, the late Tatiana Cheboksarova, died before this research discovery appeared on the Wartski website, and we miss her talents very much!
Fabergé Happenings: Objects on the Market, Sold, and More
By Timothy Adams (USA), Christel Ludewig McCanless (USA), and Riana Benko (Slovenia)
Wartski London
Imperial Clock by Carl Fabergé, St.
Petersburg, 1896-1902.
Illustrated on the dealer’s website
with a photograph from the 1902 Fabergé
Exhibition in the von Dervis Mansion,
St. Petersburg, Russia.
Fabergé flowers from the Henrik Wigström workshop (active 1903-1917) with original provenances:
-
Barberry, thorny shrubs of genus Berberis bearing yellow flowers and red or blue-black berries. The berberis plant is an often-used spice in the Russian cuisine. Wigström stock number 13044, ca. 1907.
-
Bearberry, any of three dwarf shrubs of the genus Arctostaphylos, which principally grow in arctic and subarctic regions, and bear edible berries. Wigström stock number 17677, 1910-1911.
CLICK THE ABOVE INVOICE FOR A LARGER VIEW
Barberry flower study by Fabergé purchased by the Russian diplomat Stanislas Poklewski-Koziell
from Fabergé’s London branch on October, 15, 1907 for £63, 15s.
(Wartski London)
Berberis
(User: MPF, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Okhio, Camille, “5 Antiques that Caught Our Eye at the Winter
Show, From Furniture to Fabergé“, Elle Décor, January 24, 2025.
CLICK THE ABOVE LEDGER FOR A LARGER VIEW
Bearberry flower study by Fabergé purchased by Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna (1853-1920)
from the St. Petersburg Fabergé branch on April 30, 1913, for 250 rubles.
(Christie’s New York, February 7, 2025, Lot 8, Sold for $529,200)
Sotheby’s Auctions
More Auctions
“Rediscovered aquamarine and diamond pendant
sold for £43,950 … having been smuggled out
of Russia in 1918 in the hem of a dress.“
(Dreweatts London, March 19, 2025 Lot 17)
Auction catalog and more:
WITHDRAWN! Luton Hoo Fabergé Collection was
removed from in the From the Wernher Collection
of Fabergé, the Viscount Wimborne and the Earl
of Suffolk and Berkshire auction including the
Fabergé fan (above) without any announcement.
on the web.
(Christie’s London, March 26 – April 7, 2025,
Lot 512, Estimate GBP 25,000-35,000). | Historian
Zena Dickinson in The Luton Heritage Forum:
Telling Stories of Past and Present shares her
first-hand observations in The Fabergé
Collection at Luton Hoo
(Last edited September 29, 2021)
Six Fabergé objects from the Viscount Wimborne
and the Earl of Suffolk remained for the auction.
Review by Andre Ruzhnikov: “Christie’s
Last-Minute Let-Down”
Heritage Auctions, Dallas (TX) on May 13, 2025, is offering more than 100 Fabergé objects, and among them is the
Fabergé Heritage Collection created as an archival reference point for the Fabergé company founded almost 20 years ago. Curated with the assistance of the Fabergé Heritage Council and with the advice of prominent specialists in the field, the Fabergé company has now grown and supports an archive of its own. Highlights featured in a hard copy catalog and
flipbook are featured on their
website.
Other objects in the auction are a Fabergé punch set by Feodor Rϋckert, Fabergé clocks, and from private collections works by Bolin, Ovchinnikov, Khlebnikov, Grachev, and more.
-
Dallas: Full Preview, May 10-13, 2025
Hard Copy Auction Catalogs at Special Prices!
Jeffrey Eger, dealer of auction catalogs in the USA and long-time friend of the Fabergé Research Newsletter, is offering to our readers any catalog in his inventory listed below for a limited time with a discounted family price to support our research efforts. Thank you for his generous offer!
Fabergé Themes
January Frost Flakes
By Pat Hazlett, Master Docent Fabergé Hall Lead, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Texas (USA)
On January 21, 2025, south Texas received a rare and delightful treat … snow! A friend sent me a photograph (A.) he had taken of the frost on his windshield. It was a stunning image of the tiny, intricate details of how ice crystals grow and sort themselves into artistic arrangements. I was immediately reminded of a young woman who – over 100 years ago – saw the same images on her own window and was inspired to create some of the most beautiful pieces ever to come from a Fabergé workshop … Alma Pihl (B.) and her frost inspired jewelry and eggs.
(A.) Windshield Photograph
(Courtesy Danny Vivian, Victoria,
Texas, Pat Hazlett’s hometown)
(B.) Alma Pihl (1888-1976), Fabergé Designer in St. Petersburg, Snowflake Pin and 1913 Winter Egg
(Tillander-Godenhielm, Ulla. Fabergé: His Masters and Artisans, 2019, pp. 150, 152-153)
Kovshs (Duck-Shaped)
By Timothy Adams and Christel Ludewig McCanless (USA)
Fabergé kovshs (gilt-silver duck-shaped, gem-studded) from the Julius Rappoports workshop (1883-1908) in St. Petersburg have been mentioned in the Fabergé literature and sold on the auction market from 2000 to the present. Their unique shape and size (ca. 2x2x4 inches) with a 1724 coin of Peter the Great in the bottom have caused speculation as to what they were used for – salt cellars or ashtrays, perhaps? Their whimsical character would certainly bring a smile to the user’s face.
(A.) Small kovsh, silver, almandine, casting, embossing,
gilding. Height 2.3; length 10.5. St. Petersburg, last
quarter of the 19th century. Firm of K. Fabergé, master
mark “AR“.
(Ed. note: Could this be more correctly Julius Alexander
Rappoport (1851-1917) – workmaster mark I.P. 
–
active 1883-1908, succeeded by the First Artel, and not
just his initials?)
At the bottom of the kovsh is a silver half-ruble coin
from 1720 with an image of Peter I. Two crossed anchors
and a scepter, with a sample of 88; firm inventory number
2550. Received from Gokhran in 1963.
(Muntian, Tatiana. Fabergé: Great Jeweller of Russia,
2000, p. 132, object #143. In Russian)
(B.) Gemset Parcel-gilt Kovsh. Christie’s New
York, October 21, 2003, Lot 148, Estimate USD
5,000 – 8,000, Sold for $5,975. Rubel dated
1724, and a similar copy of the kvosh is in
the Moscow Kremlin State Armoury Museum.
(C.) Jewelled Parcel-Gilt Kovsh,
Christie’s London, November 28, 2011,
Lot 276, Estimate GDP 7,900-10,000
($11,000-$14,000), Sold for GBP 5,625.
(D.) McFerrin Collection in Houston, Texas, contains a
duck-shaped kovsh acquired from a private collector.
Its description includes the Russian traditions influencing
this Fabergé object, and a close-up of the coin.
(From A Snowflake to an Iceberg, The McFerrin
Collection, 2013, p. 33)
(E.) Jeweled Silver Kovsh from the MICA: The
Collection, Christie’s New York,
December 13, 2024, Lot 1054, Estimate
$2,000-3,000, Sold for $22,680.
(F.) FABERGÉ, A RUBY SET SILVER AND
SILVER GILT KOVSH, Dreweatts,
March 19, 2025, Lot 16, Estimate
$2,000-$3,000, Sold for GBP 11,000 ($14,300).
(G.) Fabergé Gem-Set Parcel Gilt Silver Duck Form
Kovsh, Fabergé, Workmaster Julius Rappoport, St.
Petersburg, before 1899 Heritage Auctions,
Dallas (TX) is offering it as part of the Fabergé
Heritage Collection at their May 13, 2025 auction,
Estimate $10,000 – $15,000.
(Courtesy Nick Nicholson)
(H.) Fabergé or not? 20th Century Russian 88 silver
kovsh with cabochon garnets and relief double eagle to
interior. Lot description states the object is stamped
with IP.
(Ed. Note: There is no mention of Fabergé, could this
be a Rappoport mark? Note the change in the design of
the kovsh on the tail piece and the longer neck.
The above hallmark photograph shows a “delta” on it for
Moscow, yet Rappoport was a St. Petersburg workmaster.)
(Kodner Galleries, Dania Beach, Florida,
April 5, 2017, Lot 96)
(I.) Fabergé or not? RUSSIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS SILVER GILT KOVSH,
CIRCA 1900, the coin set kovsh modelled as a stylized bird with
ruby set glass eyes, 10cm wide.
(Duke’s, Dorchester (UK) April 16, 2025, Lot 261)
– active 1891-1904, returned
– active 1880-1913.
– Active 1857-1903) Fabergé Design Sketch (C.) Discovered by the London Jeweler Wartski and described as the Hesse Jubilee Brooch.
–