FABERGE IN LONDON

In Edwardian society, exchanging fabulously expensive Fabergé gifts was the sure sign that you moved in royal, aristocratic or newly-wealthy circles. When the London branch of the company was opened in the Oxford Street area in 1903, the British royal family were already customers through their close association with the Russian tsars. Fabergé creations did not use valuable materials: the value was in the perfect craftsmanship applied to everyday items such as cigarette holders and bookmarks. Hardstone figurines were very popular, following a 1907 commission from the King and dog-worshipping Queen for miniatures of all the animals on their Sandringham estate. Illustrated here are Edward VII's shooting pony, Iron Duke, the Clumber spaniel gun-dog Lucy with ruby eyes, the king's racing horse Persimmon, and an obsidian figurine of the Dexter Bull. Figurines of great British characters such as Chelsea Pensioners or Scottish Highlanders provided another source of expensive gifts exchanged by the aristocracy, though a collection of enamelled boxes with English scenes on the lids did less well. The business moved to New Bond Street in 1911, a few doors down from Cartier. The British insistence on hallmarking caused problems, with some pieces being shipped back to Russia for completion. When George V succeeded in 1910, a notable commission was a cameo portrait of the young Prince Edward, later the uncrowned Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor. Had the Bolsheviks not closed down the business in 1917, he and Wallis Simpson would no doubt have become regular customers, like his first cousin Victoria Eugenie, Princess of Battenburg and Queen Victoria's favourite granddaughter. Fabergé's patrons included Mrs Keppel's daughter Violet Trefusis and members of the Marlborough Set, for instance the Marchioness of Ripon, painted by John Singer Sargent, who promoted Oscar Wilde's plays and arranged for Diaghilev's ballet to visit Covent Garden in 1911. 24 x 30.5cm, 240pp, sumptuous colour and archive photos.
Click YouTube icon to see this book come to life on video.