Circular, the cover set with a hardstone intaglio of The Adoration of the Magi within a seed-pearl bezel, the cover, sides and base champlevé enameled with white stripes alternating with gold bright-cut bands, the hinged cover with a two-color gold ribbon-tied laurel rim, marked inside cover, base and on mounts with ‘Fabergé’ in Cyrillic and workmaster’s initials
2¹⁄₂ in. (6.3 cm.) diameter

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. 47, no. 120 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé, Goldsmith to the Russian Imperial Court, San Francisco, 1964, p. 26, no. 41 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Fabergé: Exhibition for the Benefit of the Scholarship Fund of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, 1983, p. 74, no. 196 (illustrated).

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. 120.
San Francisco, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Fabergé: Goldsmith to the Russian Imperial Court, 1964, no. 41.
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. 196.

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Lot Essay

The hardstone intaglio on the cover of this bonbonnière is most likely Italian, dating to the second half of the sixteenth century. It is reminiscent of a number of plaquettes depicting Adoration of the Magi in bronze and glass by Giovanni Bernardi (1494-1553) and was most likely influenced by his style.

It is known that on occasion Fabergé would incorporate antique pieces into his designs, sometimes accepting commissions from his clients who wanted to showcase their precious collectibles. For a related bonbonnière set with a sardonyx cameo rather than intaglio, also by Michael Perchin, see G. von Habsburg, Fabergé, Munich, 1986, p. 167, no. 232.