Cigarette case and case, St Petersburg (Russia), 1899-1908
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1899-1908
Cigarette case and case in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number M.1:1,2-2017), made in St Petersburg (Russia), dated 1899-1908, attributed to August Hollming.
The museum's brief description reads: Red gold, green gold, platinum cigarette case with brilliant-cut diamond, Fabergé, St Petersburg, Russia, 1899-1908, with rectangular wooden case. Museum description: Cigarette case of basket-weave design with interlacing bands of red gold, green gold and platinum. The green gold bands are engraved with laurel leaves. Brilliant-cut diamond push piece. Rectangular case of varished light-coloured wood with rounded corners.
The lid has a concave groove running around its top edge. The base has a bevilled edge. Cream-coloured silk inside lid with double-headed eagle of Imperial Warrant printed in black above St Petersburg, Moscow, London in Cyrillic letters. Fitted base of cream-coloured velvet. Brass catch. The museum records it as Woven gold, partly engraved. Brilliant-cut diamond., measuring Height 10 mm; Width 90 mm; Depth 61 mm; Height 33 mm; Width 108 mm.
These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
Carl Fabergé is famous for the quality of the enamelled and jewelled objects which were made by his firm in the last decades of the Russian Tsars. The firm was founded by his father in St Petersburg in 1842. Carl was educated in St Petersburg before joining his father who had moved to Dresden in 1860. He studied in Dresden, was apprenticed to the jeweller Friedman in Frankfurt, and travelled to Florence, Paris and London. He entered his father’s firm in St Petersburg in 1865 and took over the business in 1872. He was appointed Jeweller to His Majesty in 1885, the year in he won a gold medal for jewellery in the archaeological style at the Nuremberg Fine Art Exhibition. In 1900 he won a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition. From 1903 the firm had offices in London and from 1911 a shop with a smart frontage at 173 New Bond Street. The London branch closed in 1917 and the firm closed in St Petersburg in 1918. Carl Fabergé escaped to Germany. He died in La Rosiaz, Switzerland, in 1920. Fabergé’s carved hardstone figures and the superb quality of his enamelling influenced even the great French jewellery houses. His cigarette cases, such as the present example, include work of high originality. Like many 19th-century goldsmiths, Fabergé often found inspiration in earlier styles, including archaeological jewellery, the Baroque court of early 18th-century Dresden, and France in the age of Louis XVI. Sometimes he is indebted to Russian traditions, or to the East. His collection of…
Physical characteristics
- Material
- gold, diamond, wood, silk (textile), velvet
- Dimensions
- Height 10 mm; Width 90 mm; Depth 61 mm; Height 33 mm; Width 108 mm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Woven gold, partly engraved. Brilliant-cut diamond.
- Maker recorded
- August Hollming
- Place recorded
- St Petersburg (Russia)
Design
- Inscriptions recorded
- St Petersburg mark for gold of 72 zolotniks standard, 1899-1908; Fabergé; AH for August Hollming, one of Fabergé's workmasters
Identification
- Museum object name
- Cigarette case and case
- Museum object number
- M.1:1,2-2017
- Museum system number
- O152721
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and catalogue references against a specialist reference.