Lot 0189
Fabergé Extremely Rare Gem-Set Silver and Gold Cigar Cutter in the Form of a Saw, St Petersburg, c. 1890
Estimate: 15000-17000€
An Extremely Rare Fabergé Gem-Set Silver and Gold Cigar Cutter
St Petersburg, workmaster Erik Kollin, circa 1890.
Silver, gold, diamonds; cutting, casting, chasing, polishing, gem-setting.
Marks: Faberge firm, workmaster’s mark EK for Erik Kollin; St Petersburg assay marks; 84 zolotniki silver standard, 56 gold standart. Weight: 20.5 g. Dimensions: 12 x 2,6 x 0.4 cm.
A rare Fabergé cigar cutter designed in the playful form of a miniature saw. The flat silver blade is pierced with an elongated aperture and cut with a serrated edge, directly evoking the functional shape of a carpenter’s tool. The handle is formed in polished gold as a sweeping scroll, its arched upper section set with a graduated row of diamonds.
The deliberately unexpected choice of a saw as the model for a cigar cutter reflects Fabergé’s taste for trompe-l’oeil, humour and technical exactitude. At the same time, the diamond-set gold handle introduces a courtly elegance, turning a gentleman’s smoking accessory into a small work of jewellery.
Erik August Kollin was one of the most important early masters connected with Fabergé. Born in Finland in 1836, he trained as a goldsmith before moving to St Petersburg, where he qualified as a workmaster in 1868. In 1870 he opened his own workshop and soon became Fabergé’s first chief jeweller, overseeing the firm’s workshops until 1886, when he was succeeded by Michael Perchin.
Kollin specialised in gold and silver objects, many of them in the archaic and historical taste characteristic of Fabergé’s early period.
Starting price: 12000€
Estimate: 15000-17000€
Hammer Price: €
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