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Lot 104 PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ALEXANDRA ANASTASIA, DUCHESS OF ABERCORN
A PAIR OF RARE GUILLOCHÉ ENAMEL, ROCK CRYSTAL AND TWO-COLOUR GOLD AND SILVER CANDLE STICKS
MARKED FABERGÉ, WITH THE WORKMASTER’S MARK OF HENRIK WIGSTRÖM, ST PETERSBURG, 1908-1917, SCRATCHED INVENTORY NUMBER 19204
Closed7 June 2021
Price Realised
GBP 106,250
More Information
Specialist note
The Rothschild's racing colours of yellow and blue were registered by Mayer Rothschild in 1843. They were first used on commissions for Leopold de Rothschild, one of Fabergé’s principal clients, in 1909. The present pair of candle sticks appears to be one of the first such commissions acquired directly by Leopold de Rothschild from Fabergé in London on 7 December 1909, together with a matching bonbonnière and a matchbox.
According to the memoirs of Henry Bainbridge, the manager of the London Fabergé shop who established a close relationship with the family, Leopold de Rothschild would often present Fabergé pieces enamelled in his racing colours to friends as tokens. ‘Whenever he wanted to say ‘Good morning!’ ‘I like you!’ or ‘Don’t bother me any more!’ he simply slipped a dark blue and yellow Fabergé object into his friend’s pocket.’ (H.C. Bainbridge, Peter Carl Fabergé, London, 1949, p. 83).
For a selection of objects in the Rothschild colours, see Exhibition catalogue, A La Vieille Russie, Fabergé, New York, 1983, p. 96. A Fabergé cigarette case in Rothschild racing colours from the Sinatra collection was sold at Christie's, New York, 1 December 1995, lot 46. A similarly decorated cane handle from the Kazan collection was sold at Christie's, New York, 15 April 1997, lot 194.
According to the memoirs of Henry Bainbridge, the manager of the London Fabergé shop who established a close relationship with the family, Leopold de Rothschild would often present Fabergé pieces enamelled in his racing colours to friends as tokens. ‘Whenever he wanted to say ‘Good morning!’ ‘I like you!’ or ‘Don’t bother me any more!’ he simply slipped a dark blue and yellow Fabergé object into his friend’s pocket.’ (H.C. Bainbridge, Peter Carl Fabergé, London, 1949, p. 83).
For a selection of objects in the Rothschild colours, see Exhibition catalogue, A La Vieille Russie, Fabergé, New York, 1983, p. 96. A Fabergé cigarette case in Rothschild racing colours from the Sinatra collection was sold at Christie's, New York, 1 December 1995, lot 46. A similarly decorated cane handle from the Kazan collection was sold at Christie's, New York, 15 April 1997, lot 194.