Modelled as a silver-gilt easel, supporting an oval moss agate panel, partially foiled, cut to suggest a landscape seen through trees, within a reeded bezel, the frame decorated with opaque black enamel, within an acanthus-chased outer border, in a silk lined green velvet A La Vieille Russie box, marked on rim and feet with ‘Fabergé’ in Cyrillic and workmaster’s initials
5 in. (12.7 cm.) high, standing
5 oz. (156 gr.) gross weight

Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, Geneva, 15 November 1990, lot 441.
With A La Vieille Russie, New York.

G. von Hapsburg, M. Lopato, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, London, 1993, p. 95, no. 16 (illustrated).
I. Collins, Fabergé: from St. Petersburg to Sandringham, Norwich, 2017, p. 7 (illustrated).
Exhibition Catalogue, Fabergé: Romance to Revolution, London, 2021, p. 98, no. 79 (illustrated).

St. Petersburg, Hermitage State Museum; Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs; London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, June 1993 - April 1994, no. 16.
Norwich, Sainsbury Center for Visual Arts, Fabergé: from St. Petersburg to Sandringham, 14 October 2017 – 11 February 2018.
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Fabergé: Romance to Revolution, 20 November 2021 – 8 May 2022, no. 79.

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie's Inc

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

This charming model of a painter’s easel is a wonderful example of Faberge’s objets d’art, collectible fantasies of purely decorative nature. The oval panel is cut from moss agate to simulate a painting, perhaps a landscape or view of a lake, whilst dendritic inclusions resemble tree branches. The moss agate panel is partially foiled at the back to provide a horizon to the view.

The original design for the present miniature easel is featured in a surviving album of Henrik Wigström’s drawings, numbered ‘15437’ (U. Tillander-Godenhielm et al., Golden Years of Fabergé: Drawings and Objects from the Wigström Workshop, Paris, 2000, p. 124, pl. 345).