Ostrich
Russian
ca. 1900
47.20.262
Statuette of a Sailor
Russian
ca. 1900
Milky quartz, aventurine, onyx or calcedony, lapis lazuli, sapphires, gold
47.20.268
Only about fifty hardstone human figures carved by the Fabergé firm are known today. This sailor figure is made of several different hardstones. His face and hands are made of aventurine, and his eyes are sapphires. The sailor wears a milky quartz uniform, lapis lazuli tie and cap band, and onyx or chalcedony shoes. The cap’s tally, or ribbon band, has a gilt inscription that reads Zarnitsa in Cyrillic, which means “summer lightning.” This name links the figure to an imperial yacht once captained by Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, the uncle of Tsar Nicholas II.
Records from Fabergé’s London gallery show that this sculpture, which was carved in St. Petersburg, was sold for £53 in 1913 to “Mme. Brassow” (Natalia Sheremet’evskaia), who had married the grand duke in 1912 against the express orders of the tsar. The new owners returned to St. Petersburg and likely took this figure with them. It did not surface again until 1937 when the sailor was included in a Fabergé exhibition organized by the art dealer and collector Armand Hammer.
Cornflowers
Russian
19th – 20th century
Gold, enamel, silver, diamonds, rock crystal
47.20.222
Dandelion
Russian
19th – 20th century
Nephrite, rock crystal, gold, platinum, diamonds, asbestos fiber
47.20.2358
English Hawthorn
Russian
1899-1917
Nephrite, banded calcite, gold, chalcedony, aventurine, coral
47.20.228
Globeflowers
Russian
ca. 1900
Gold, enamel, nephrite, rock crystal
47.20.233
Lilies of the Valley
Russian
19th – 20th century
Nephrite, gold, silver, pearls, diamonds, bloodstone
47.20.237
Violet
Russian
ca. 1908
Gold, enamel, diamond, nephrite, rock crystal
47.20.238
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