A JEWELLED SILVER-GILT AND GUILLOCHÉ ENAMEL IMPERIAL PRESENTATION CIGARETTE CASE
Lot 232 PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION

A JEWELLED SILVER-GILT AND GUILLOCHÉ ENAMEL IMPERIAL PRESENTATION CIGARETTE CASE

MARKED FABERGÉ, WITH THE WORKMASTER'S MARK OF AUGUST HOLLMING, ST PETERSBURG, 1908-1917, SCRATCHED INVENTORY NUMBER 2569

Closed30 November 2015

Price Realised

GBP 32,500

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A JEWELLED SILVER-GILT AND GUILLOCHÉ ENAMEL IMPERIAL PRESENTATION CIGARETTE CASE
MARKED FABERGÉ, WITH THE WORKMASTER'S MARK OF AUGUST HOLLMING, ST PETERSBURG, 1908-1917, SCRATCHED INVENTORY NUMBER 2569
Rectangular with rounded corners, the body enamelled in translucent white over a sunburst guilloché ground, the hinged cover centring a rose-cut diamond-set Imperial double-headed eagle, with a cabochon sapphire push-piece, interior gilt, inscribed inside base ‘Lt. Col. A.W.F. Knox. / from / H.I.H. The Emperor of Russia / 28th June 1911.’, marked inside cover and base; in the original silk and velvet-lined red leather case stamped with the Imperial double-headed eagle
3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm.) wide

Presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Sir Alfred William Fortescue Knox (1870-1964) in 1911.
Anonymous sale; Christie’s, Geneva, 30 November 1982, lot 260.

Specialist note

Alfred William Fortescue Knox (1870-1964) was the military attaché in the British embassy in Russia from 1911 to 1918. At the outbreak of the First World War, he became a liaison officer to the Russian Army and was with the Russian field forces between 1914-1918. From 1918 to 1920 he was head of the British military mission in Siberia.

On his return to England he published With the Russian Army: 1914-1917 (1921) which contained a detailed account of his time in the First World War and the Russian Revolution. In the 1924 General Election he was elected as a Member of Parliament and held his seat through subsequent general elections until 1945.

We are grateful to Valentin Skurlov for his assistance with the research of the present lot.