Object Description
A Fabergé-Style Amethyst, Nephrite and Pearl Study of Violets in a Rock Crystal Vase Style of Fabergé (Russian, founded 1842)
Continental, c. 1900
Height: 8cm, width: 5cm, depth: 5cm
This delightful miniature flower study comprises four carved amethyst violet blooms, each centred with a seed pearl and mounted on slender silver stems stamped with the “925” hallmark, confirming sterling silver. The stems carry intricately carved nephrite jade leaves, executed with precise naturalistic attention to the veining and serrated edges typical of violet foliage, their deep olive-green tones providing a vivid counterpoint to the translucent purple of the blooms above.
The arrangement is presented in a small vase carved from a single piece of rock crystal, employing the trompe l’oeil technique perfected by Fabergé’s workshops, in which the polished crystal convincingly simulates a glass vessel filled with water — a device of considerable illusionistic charm that gives the composition the freshness and immediacy of a living plant freshly gathered from the garden.
Botanical flower studies of this type were among the most celebrated creations of the House of Fabergé under the direction of Peter Carl Fabergé (1846–1920), produced principally around 1900 for the firm’s most distinguished clientele. The violet held particular significance in imperial Russia, closely associated with modesty and refinement, and was a favoured subject for the firm’s craftsmen. The seamless integration of carved hardstones, pearl accents, and rock crystal bases is entirely characteristic of the St Petersburg workshops at the height of their production, where master lapidaries worked alongside goldsmiths to achieve a level of botanical realism unmatched by any other jewellery house of the period.