Lot 0036
Russian Tula Money Box, Tula, 1850s
Estimate: 3000-3500€
A Russian Tula Money Box
Russia, Tula, 1850s
Steel, tin, brass, copper; forged, inlaid. Dimensions: 6,5 x 6,6 x 6,6 cm.
A cylindrical steel money box with a hinged lid, pierced with a narrow slot for coins and fitted with a hasp for a lock. The lid, formed with a gently raised rounded rim, is ornamented with floral sprays executed in delicate metal inlay. The body is encircled by luxuriant hanging garlands of flowers and leaves, while the upper and lower edges are framed by fine ornamental bands. This piece belongs to the tradition of Tula decorative metalwork, produced by armourers who, alongside weapons, made a wide range of elegant domestic objects in steel. By the late 18th and 19th centuries, Tula had developed a distinctive school of artistic metalworking, celebrated for its virtuoso command of forging, engraving, overlay, and inlay. The State Hermitage Museum has the finest and most comprehensive collection of Tula ornamental steelwork, including both domestic objects and furniture made by Tula armourers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Numbering around 300 pieces, the collection offers an exceptional view of this distinctive tradition within Russian decorative art.
Starting price: 2500€
Estimate: 3000-3500€
Hammer Price: €
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Lot 0038
Fabergé – Silver-Gilt and Guilloché Enamel Match Holder, Moscow, 1899–1908, Original Case
Estimate: 5000-7000€
Lot 0038
Fabergé – Silver-Gilt and Guilloché Enamel Match Holder, Moscow, 1899–1908, Original Case
Estimate: 5000-7000€“FABERGÉ. SILVER-GILT AND GUILLOCHÉ ENAMEL MATCH HOLDER IN ORIGINAL CASE Moscow branch of the Fabergé firm, 1899-1908.
Silver-gilt, guilloché enamel, cast and applied relief; original fitted wooden case. Weight: 98 g. Dimensions: 2.2 x 7.9 x 3.7 cm.
Marks: Faberge with Imperial Warrant, Moscow assay mark, 84 zolotnik standart.
Description
A refined silver-gilt match holder of rectangular form, the hinged lid inset with a vivid blue guilloché enamel ground over which is applied an elegant Art Nouveau relief composition. The ornament takes the form of a female mask with long, fluid hair dissolving into whiplash curves and sinuous tendrils, the whole conceived in the highly expressive linear idiom of the modern style.
One side of the case is fitted with a ribbed striker, confirming the object’s practical function while preserving the precious, jewel-like character typical of Fabergé’s smaller luxury articles. The interior is fully gilt.
This match holder is an eloquent example of the Moscow branch’s response to the aesthetics of Art Nouveau.
The Moscow branch of Fabergé, established by Carl Fabergé with the active participation of the British subject Allan Bowe, developed a distinctive profile within the firm’s wider production. The shop on Kuznetsky Most, in the Merchants’ Society building, operated in the spirit of a metropolitan showcase: Moscow demanded spectacle and strong display effect. A phototype illustration from the 1893 price list records the interior as a demonstration hall, with carpets, velvet banquettes, columns, wall cases displaying silver and mounted crystal, and low table-vitrines filled with jewels in fitted cases.
It was here that the Art Nouveau line, associated with the principle of the very latest fashions, found especially vivid expression. Art Nouveau manifested itself in flowing contours, asymmetry, graphic rhythm, and the treatment of silver surfaces, as well as in motifs of the circle, the wave, and the vegetal scroll. This language found its most organic expression in small-scale objets d’art.
The assortiment responded closely to current taste: objects that had lost their novelty were gathered up and melted down annually, reinforcing the shop’s image as a place of constant renewal. The production base was the Moscow factory in the San Galli house in Bolshoi Kiselny Lane, employing about 300 workers, where silver production was particularly strong”Starting price: 4000€
Estimate: 5000-7000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0037
Boucheron – Silver Tray-Ashtray with Naiad Figure, Signed H. Burdy, Paris, 1900s
Estimate: 3500-4500€
Lot 0037
Boucheron – Silver Tray-Ashtray with Naiad Figure, Signed H. Burdy, Paris, 1900s
Estimate: 3500-4500€Boucheron. Tray-Ashtray with a Figure of a Naiad
Silver, casting, gilding Signed by the sculptor: H-Bvrdy. Makers mark of «Boucheron Paris», 1900s. Dimensions: 13 x 8.5 x 4 cm. Total weight: 398.4 g.
The model of this tray-ashtray, created after designs by the renowned sculptor Henri Burdy, presents an elegant composition centered on the graceful figure of a Naiad, daughter of Zeus and nymph of a spring. Her body, seemingly woven of light, harmonizes with the refined silver surface.
Founded in 1858 by Frédéric Prudent Boucheron (1830–1902), the celebrated jewelry house not only produced elite jewels but also crafted artistic silver objects in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles, including cigarette cases, card holders, and ashtrays. In 1893, the firm established its flagship boutique at 26 Place Vendôme, Paris, where it remains to this day.
Henri Auguste Burdy (1833–1911), a French sculptor and engraver born in Grenoble, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1863 he received the second Grand Prix de Rome for his medal Bacchus Forcing a Panther to Drink, which revealed his gift for refined plasticity and mastery of small-scale form. His portrait medals, busts, and statuettes were widely recognized and exhibited at leading art salons. From the late 19th century, Burdy worked extensively in gemstone carving, creating unique pieces that combined jeweler’s precision with sculptural expressiveness. Among his distinguished commissions were works for the House of Boucheron. Notable creations include an emerald lion’s head mounted in a gold buckle with repoussé figures of two panthers, as well as an emerald carved with the head of Julius Caesar, traditionally linked to the collection of Napoleon III.Starting price: 3000€
Estimate: 3500-4500€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0035
Russian Silver-Gilt Cigar Box, Konstantin Skvortsov, Moscow, 1887–1908, Signed
Estimate: 6000-7000€
Lot 0035
Russian Silver-Gilt Cigar Box, Konstantin Skvortsov, Moscow, 1887–1908, Signed
Estimate: 6000-7000€An intersting Russian silver-gilt cigar box.
Konstantin Skvortsov, Moscow, 1887-1908
Rectangular, with hinged lid, the interior gilt, the lid chased with a figural scene of a blacksmith’s forge with a mounted warrior, horse, dog, rustic structures, and a Cyrillic proverb below: “I forge human destiny: the blacksmith decides who is to marry whom”, further engraved at right 19/XI/10.
Marked: maker’s mark K. Skvortsov and Moscow assay marks.
Size: 15.5 × 11 × 5.1 cm
Weight: 480.5 g.
A rare example of late Imperial Russian silver cigar accessory, notable for its quality narrative relief and richly gilded interior.Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 6000-7000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0034
Fabergé – Silver-Gilt Cigar Box with Double Hinged Lid, Moscow, 1908–1917
Estimate: 25000-35000€
Lot 0034
Fabergé – Silver-Gilt Cigar Box with Double Hinged Lid, Moscow, 1908–1917
Estimate: 25000-35000€An impressive Fabergé silver-gilt cigar box with double hinged lid, Moscow, 1908–1917. The rectangular form set on four bun feet, the sides and covers richly decorated with neoclassical borders, rosettes, and medallions in relief, and fitted with a central handle. Scratched inventory number 210?.
Dimensions: 22 × 15.2 × 11.3 cm.
Weight: 1547 g.Cigar accessories by Fabergé are extremely rare and highly sought after on the art market, prized both for their craftsmanship and for their scarcity among the firm’s surviving works. One comparable example is a Fabergé silver and en plein enamel cigar box, Moscow, circa 1911, which appeared in a Sotheby’s auction. https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/russian-works-of-art-faberge-and-icons/a-rare-faberge-silver-and-en-plein-enamel-cigar
Starting price: 20000€
Estimate: 25000-35000€
Hammer Price: €