There are only two aquamarine elephants recorded in the Imperial Cabinet ledgers. One was acquired by Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (1866-1933) in 1913 and the other one by Empress Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928) in 1914. Although this rare aquamarine elephant does not have a scratched inventory number, it is very likely to be the one acquired by Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, the brother of Grand Duke Michael, from the St Petersburg branch of Fabergé on 23 December 1913 (inventory number '24285'). The handwriting on the note pinned to the silk lining on the case is very similar to that of Grand Duke Alexander. The note is inscribed 'Micha Torby' for his nephew Michael de Torby (1898-1959).

Grand Duke Alexander and his wife Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna visited London on a few occasions. He recalls in his memoirs: 'Empress Maria Feodorovna, Ksenia and I spent the summer of 1914 in London. The Empress lived in Marlborough House with her sister Queen Alexandra. Rumors about the war seemed incredible to us all, and everyone was laughing at me when I hurried back home [..] I left Paris alone on 26 July [..]' (Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, A Book of Memoirs [Kniga Vospominaniy], Paris, 1933, p. 257).

We are grateful to Dmitry Krivoshei for his assistance with the research of the present lot.