Life Happens: Apologies for the Summer 2024 Edition being late.
Fall and Winter 2024 Edition will be available in April, Spring Edition 2025 in May, and Summer Edition 2025 in June.
Auctions
Fabergé at Auctions: Hits & Misses and Auction Chronology, January-June 2024
By James Hurtt, Timothy Adams, and Christel Ludewig McCanless (USA)
Newsletter contributor James Hurtt suggests objects from the original Fabergé firm created over a century ago are now rarely offered as part of Russian-themed auction sales by the larger auction houses. Infrequently, a few pieces are included in auctions featuring gold boxes, objets de vertu, fine jewelry, or ‘collectors’ collections, and major auction houses are holding smaller sales in the larger cities – London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Hong Kong, etc. Two blockbuster auctions at Heritage Auctions in Dallas (Texas) on May 17, 2024, and Elmwood’s in London on May 30, 2024, are different stories!
(A.) Slide Lecture Showcasing Objects Sold by Heritage Auctions, Dallas (Texas), on May 17, 2024
(Courtesy Nick Nicholson)
Newsletter contributor Timothy Adams attended a lecture,
Fabergé in Exile: The Fate of the Romanov Collections after the Revolution, presented by Nicholas Nicholson in Beverly Hills (CA) on April 18, 2024. Nicholson later gave his talk in Chicago (IL) on April 24, 2024, and in New York City, May 2, 2024, before the Heritage Auctions sale in Dallas (TX) on May 17, 2024. The accompanying traveling exhibition allowed attendees to see old photos showing some of the objects
in situ on a side table, or a desk in the Romanov and Yusupov palaces, and then view and examine the auction lots. It is a fascinating story of how the Imperial pieces in the auction made their way to America after the 1917 Revolution. A few items belonging to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928) were passed on to her daughter Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960), then to her son Prince Vasili Alexandrovich (1907-1989), who sold them in 1949 to Thelma D. Zane of San Fransisco (CA).
Hit and Misses in the auction world summarized by Christel Ludewig McCanless, editor and publisher of the Fabergé Research Newsletter –
-
Last hard copy auction catalog was published by Christie’s London for the Harry Woolf Fabergé Collection on November 29, 2021.
-
For on-line auctions lasting several days or even weeks the opening and/or closing dates are not always easy to find in Internet entries before and/or after the auction. Frequently in the published electronic literature only the closing date of the auction is cited.
-
In 2014, smaller auction houses began using umbrella agencies known as consolidators to market their ‘Fabergé’ objects. Since 2023, consolidators are a dominant force in marketing both original and ‘modern types’ of Fabergé objects, often with generic descriptions due to a lack of expertise in the many unique auction subject categories. Fabergé Fact-checking Avoids Historical Inaccuracies – Reader’s Help Appreciated! lists in some details the problems encountered in original vs. modern authentication procedures, and the pitfalls encountered.
-
Journals with auction news published on the Internet before and after the auctions event often have pay walls with a few free articles before a subscription fee is charged for continued access.
-
Wall Street Journal January 24, 2025 Auction Houses Seek Younger Buyers. Sotheby’s sales last year fell 25% and Christie’s sales were down 6% (Sotheby’s Reverses Course on Fee Structure Announced in February after Challenging 2024).
Christie’s Auctions Review
In the Spring of 2024 their website experienced a technology security incident which included “the pro-active protection of our main website by taking it offline, a week”. Limited on-going auctions were maintained, but auction records from 1998 to the present were not available. Welcome back!
The number of illustrations and object description for Fabergé items no longer on the website from past auctions is increasing. It is a limiting factor in authentic research efforts along with no hard copy catalogs.
Christie’s states it has sold 1579 Fabergé objects including the highlights from the Harry Woolf Sale on November 29, 2021. Collecting Guide: 15 Things You Need to Know about Fabergé was published June 5, 2023.
Sotheby’s Auctions Review
Charles F. Stewart, CEO, Sotheby’s announced a new fee structure beginning on May 20, 2024:
“the biggest changes to our fee structure in more than 40 years … lowered our Buyer’s Premium by 26% on almost everything we sell, and we eliminated our 1% Overhead Premium fee … The new rate is 20% on purchases of a hammer value up to $6 million – and 10% of the portion of the hammer price above $6 million … Poll of tens of thousands of clients with a 90.6% of respondents told us they will bid higher as a consequence of the reduced buyer’s premium.”
The website claims 33,817 Fabergé objects can be studied in detail – this number is misleading, since all non-Fabergé objects in a sale with the word Fabergé in the auction title are included, but are not related to the original Fabergé creations prior to 1917, or are even a ‘modern’ creation.
Sotheby’s has initiated a Fabergé Artists/Makers section which features a biographical sketch of Fabergé workmasters and a selection of their objects are illustrated.
Doyle Auctions in New York
Doyle’s, one of the leading American auction houses active in Fabergé sales, introduces
296 Fabergé lots in its search feature with an excellent variety of photographs, basic information, and especially useful are the high resolution Fabergé hallmarks presented with zoom features. “Modern” Fabergé objects after 1917 are clearly identified. Instead of listing each individual Doyle sale in the
Auction Chronology, January-June 2024 below, Fabergé enthusiasts/researchers are encouraged to explore the Doyle website with lengthy object descriptions, exhibitions, and the object’s published literature.
More…
Fabergé Silver and Sandstone Elephant
(Courtesy A La Vieille Russie, New York)
Fabergé Objects on View in Lisbon, Portugal
Three
Fabergé Research Newsletter contributors, Katrina Warne (UK), Riana Benko (Slovenia), and Timothy Adams (USA) on separate trips visited a state-of-the-art museum, the Royal Treasury in Lisbon, Portugal. Four Fabergé objects on view at the museum which opened in 2022 are listed on the
Fabergé Research Site, and three of them are illustrated below:
(A.) Fabergé Table Clock in Gold, Enamel, Diamonds and a Bell Push in Gold, Enamel, Star Sapphire, Diamonds
and Silver by Mikhail Perkhin, Workmaster Mark М.П. – Active 1886-1903.
(Illustrations from the Royal Treasures, 1992, pp. 75-76, shared by Katrina Warne)
(B.) Fabergé Pale Blue Enamel Guilloché
Frame by ‘Anders’ Nevalainen (C.) with
an Oval Photograph Dated July 1, 1901,
King Victor Emanuel III’s Eldest
Daughter, Princess Yolanda (1901-1986).
(Misidentified as Mafalda in the 1992
Monograph, Royal Treasures, p. 74)
(C.)
Antti Nevalainen – workmaster marks
A N and
AN 
– active 1885-1917. Anders is the Swedish speaking version of the name, but Nevalainen was a purely Finnish speaking person. There are two official languages in Finland, Finnish and Swedish. The clergymen in the old days were almost all Swedish speakers and therefore, on their own initiative wrongly marked Swedish versions of names into church registers when they added confirmation dates, marriage dates. (Summary by Ulla Tilander-Godenhielm, 2024)
In her scholarly publication, Tillander-Godenhielm, Ulla. Fabergé His Masters and Artisans, 2018, pp. 174-181, includes Antti Nevalainen objects from the Fabergé workshop, and shares the history of his life.
Nineteen Finnish workmasters complete with their mark as they should be cited in Fabergé object descriptions was compiled and published. (Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, “Readers Forum” in the Fabergé Research Newsletter, Summer 2009)
It was Riana Benko’s joy to add the Royal Treasury as a new addition (#21) with its Fabergé treasures to the
Exhibitions & Museums section after Fabergé enthusiasts shared their knowledge and resources on this topic. Readers with news to share about other Fabergé museum collections, not yet on the revised exhibition & museum page, but available on the Internet, please contact:
Riana Benko.
Andreane Rellou with a Cache of Rediscovered Fabergé Objects
(Courtesy Brighton & Hove Museum)
An article cited in the Fabergé Research Newsletter, Winter 2021, with the headline, “The Forgotten Masterpieces of Fabergé, Unearthed in a Museum Cabinet in Brighton”, has a research addition, Amateur Detective Solves Our Fabergé Mystery, thanks to the detective work of an alert museum visitor. (Brighton & Hove Museums Website)
Publications
Fabergé on Dealer Web Sites
By Christel Ludewig McCanless (USA)
A La Vieille Russie, New York, illustrates and describes
Fabergé creations on its website. Dealer participated in the Treasure House Fair held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, June 27 – July 2, 2024, and published its annual Christmas catalog.
Andre Ruzhnikov on his website, Ruznikov Fine Art & Antiques (London), features 89 Fabergé objects, all cataloged using a standard descriptive terminology, and a News and Reviews column. The objects are shown with enlarged photographs of hallmark close-ups and many other details. Of particular interest are a pair of opera glasses by Fabergé at Heritage Auctions, Dallas (TX) on May 17, 2024, Lot 82162, estimate $12,000 – $18,000, sold for $36,250, and a unique seven-piece Russian silver cigar set by Fabergé in a stunning photographic display.
Bentley and Skinner, London, showcases 35 Fabergé objects which include close-ups of hallmarks. A collector or researcher not familiar with the intricate details of hallmarks would benefit from viewing these and comparing them to the published literature for marks in standard Fabergé publications.
John Atzbach Antiques recently alerted their subscribers to an auction:
“Imperial Fabergé & Russian Works of Art auction to be held on December 16, 2024, in Dallas, Texas. A brief summary: The auction features nearly 300 lots, many of which have been unseen on the market in decades…John was very instrumental in the formation of the two collections…Several of the Faberge and Russian enamel pieces were previously part of the very well-known Greenfield and Chen collections prior to their joining this collection now on the market. Many other pieces are also known in the world of Russian enamels as they have been part of famous exhibitions and have been published in various books and exhibition catalogs over the years.” What a bonus for Fabergé and Russian works enthusiasts to have access to research details of this magnitude!
M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans (LA) advertised a 128-piece set of dinner and dessert flatware as well as six rare samovar teacups in the Wall Street Journal, July 6-7, 2024, A5. The dealer’s specialty in presenting Fabergé walking sticks and canes continues on their website offerings.
Romanov Russia specializes in Romanov antiques (1613-1917) Russian antiques, and Fabergé. Objects for sale are presented with close-up photographs, a video, and detailed research descriptions which include archival documentation.
Wartski, London. About 200 Fabergé objects (sold or for sale) with research essays are enumerated on the dealer’s website. The jeweler participated in the Treasure House Fair held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, June 27 – July 2, 2024. Katherine Purcell, joint managing director of Wartski, was interviewed by Mary Miers, and the interview published on the Treasure House Fair website, Katherine Purcell Invites Us Inside Wartski dated December 14, 2023. Two family-owned businesses (A La Vielle Russie and Wartski) have for many years been actively engaged in Fabergé exhibitions world-wide and have published scholarly exhibition catalogs. A partial list of their publications is in included in the Selected Fabergé Bibliography.
– active 1885-1917. Anders is the Swedish speaking version of the name, but Nevalainen was a purely Finnish speaking person. There are two official languages in Finland, Finnish and Swedish. The clergymen in the old days were almost all Swedish speakers and therefore, on their own initiative wrongly marked Swedish versions of names into church registers when they added confirmation dates, marriage dates. (Summary by Ulla Tilander-Godenhielm, 2024)