Rectangular, the hinged covers enameled in alternating pink and white vertical stripes, centering a seed-pearl bezel and a translucent white guilloché enamel panel, applied with a rose-cut diamond-set Imperial double-headed eagle, suspended from ribbon-tied laurel swags, set with seed-pearls, one side fitted with a reeded gold pencil with a moonstone finial, with ivorine inserts and suspension loop, interior applied with a gold plaque engraved in French ‘Présent de Sa Majesté L’Empereur Nicholas II, 2 Févr. 1902’, marked on mounts with assay marks and indistinct maker's mark; in the original fitted Fabergé wooden case
2⁷⁄₈ in. (7.3 cm.) high, excluding pencil and suspension loop

A gift from Nicholas II (1868-1918) to Elizabeth Balletta of the Imperial Michael Theatre on February 2, 1902, the eve of a benefit performance marking her tenth anniversary on the St. Petersburg stage.
The collection of Lansdell K. Christie (1903-1965).
Valuable and Important Objets de Vertu by Carl Fabergé from the Lansdell K. Christie Collection; Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 7 December 1967, lot 7.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Easter Eggs and Other Precious Objects by Carl Fabergé, Washington, D.C., 1961, p. 45, no. 73 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, The Art of Peter Carl Fabergé: Exhibition for the Benefit of the Scholarship Fund of the Manhattan School of Music, New York, 1961, p. 69, no. 222 (illustrated).
A.K. Snowman, The Art of Carl Fabergé, London, 1964, pl. XVI (illustrated).
J. McNab Dennis, 'Fabergé's Objects of Fantasy', Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, March, 1965, pl. 19 (illustrated).
Exhibition Catalogue, The Art of the Goldsmith & the Jeweler: a Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Young Women's Christian Association of the City of New York, New York, 1968, p. 129, no. 340 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé: Exhibition for the Benefit of the Scholarship Fund of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, 1983, p. 80, no. 217 (illustrated).
G. von Hapsburg, M. Lopato, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, London, 1993, p. 302, no. 175 (illustrated).
G. von Habsburg, Fabergé in America, New York, 1996, p. 213, no. 206 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé - Cartier, Rivalen am Zarenhof, Munich, 2003, p. 182, no. 113 (illustrated).

Washington, DC, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Easter Eggs and Other Precious Objects by Carl Fabergé, 1961, no. 73.
New York, A La Vieille Russie, The Art of Peter Carl Fabergé: Exhibition for the Benefit of the Scholarship Fund of the Manhattan School of Music, October 25 - November 7, 1961, no. 222.
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Mr. and Mrs. Lansdell K. Christie Collection of Fabergé, 1965.
New York, A La Vieille Russie, The Art of the Goldsmith & the Jeweler: a Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Young Women's Christian Association of the City of New York, 6-23 November 1968, no. 340.
New York, A La Vieille Russie, Fabergé: Exhibition for the Benefit of the Scholarship Fund of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Design, April 22 - May 21, 1983, no. 217.
St. Petersburg, Hermitage State Museum; Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs; London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, June 1993 - April 1994, no. 175.
San Francisco, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Fabergé in America, May 25 - July 28, 1996, no. 206.
Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Fabergé - Cartier, Rivalen am Zarenhof, November 28, 2003-April 12, 2004, no. 113.

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Lot Essay

The present carnet-de-bal has a dedication inscription from Nicholas II and was a gift from him to Elizabeth Balletta on 2 February 1902, the eve of a benefit performance marking her tenth anniversary on the St. Petersburg stage. After Balletta's death in 1959, a number of pieces from her famed Fabergé collection were acquired by Lansdell K. Christie (1903-1965), who owned this carnet-de-bal until it was sold at Parke-Bernet in 1967.

Elizabeth Balletta (c.1870-1959) was a famous ballet dancer and actress of the Imperial Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. She was first noticed by Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovitch, future Emperor Nicholas II, before having a long relationship with his uncle, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovitch. Elizabeth Balletta performed at the Imperial Theatre for twenty-five years before settling in Paris with Grand Duke Alexei until his death in November 1908.

A nearly identical unmarked carnet-de-bal, previously in the collection of William Kazan sold at Christie's, New York, 15 April 1997, lot 73, was most recently sold again at Christie's, New York, 15 April 2013, lot 57.