Catalogue

A Russian wood and tempera Icon of “twelve-day holidays” with selected Saints and Evangelists. Workshop of Vasiliy Khohlov. Palekh. First quarter of the 19th century. Dimensions: 33.4 x 27.5 x 2.8 cm.

Starting price: 1500€
Estimate: 1500-2500€

A Russian Imperial Decanter For Spirits St Petersburg, Imperial Glass Factory, 1830s-1840s.
Clear glass and copper-ruby glass; blown, cased glass, deep cutting, polished.
Dimensions
Height 14.5 cm, diameter 10.0 cm.
A small pear-shaped decanter on a circular foot. The body is made of clear glass with an outer layer of copper-ruby overlay. The ornament is cut through the coloured casing by deep wheel-cutting: a tall frieze of pointed Gothic arches, interspersed with delicate multi-rayed stars. The shoulders are encircled by stepped bands of cutting, while the neck opens into a slight flare. The fitted stopper is faceted and echoes the decorative character of the vessel.
The deep dark cherry tone was achieved by colouring the glass mass with colloidal copper. The contrast between the transparent ground and the ruby overlay produces a vivid play of light and strongly emphasizes the Gothic design. Both form and decoration are consistent with the production of the Imperial Glass Factory. Closely comparable examples are founded in the State Historical Museum, Moscow (inv. no. GIM 106603/2), and in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (inv. no. ERS-3085).
A number of objects in the Gothic style, probably made for the Cottage Palace in Alexandria Park at Peterhof, are displayed in Russian museum collections. Among them are mantel clocks and a lidded tankard with carved and gilded decoration in the form of an ornamental colonnade with pointed arches in the collection of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art, Moscow. In the present decanter, the motif of the pointed arcade and colonnade is directly adopted, though without gilding.
The Imperial Glass Factory was founded in 1792, when, after the death of Grigory Potemkin, his enterprise was acquired for the treasury by Catherine II. During the 19th century, the factory worked with leading architects and artists, among them Andrei Voronikhin, Thomas de Thomon, Carlo Rossi, Vasily Stasov, Ippolit Monighetti, and Viktor Hartmann, producing exemplary works in glass and crystal to their designs. In 1890 the factory was merged with the Imperial Porcelain Factory, and production ceased at the end of 1918.

Starting price: 1200€
Estimate: 1500-1800€
Hammer Price: Not sold

A Russian wood and tempera icon of Saint Zosima and Saint Savatiy. Copy of the 16th century Icon. Moscow. The end of the 19th-beginning of the 20th century. Dimensions: 44 x 46.7 x 4 cm.

Starting price: 1200€
Estimate: 1200-1700€

A Russian Gold-Mounted Agate Kovsh
Maker’s mark of Imperial Court Appraiser Friedrich Koehli (1837–1909)
Petersburg, late 19th century
Dimensions: 3 × 10.2 × 7.2 cm

Carved from richly banded agate in warm amber and cream tones, the kovsh is elegantly mounted with a sculptural gold handle of coiled, ribbon-like design. The refined balance between the natural stone’s beauty and the simplicity of its gold ornament reflects the sophisticated aesthetic of St. Petersburg court jewelers at the turn of the century.

Friedrich Koehli, a Swiss-born jeweler who founded his St. Petersburg firm in 1874, became one of the most respected goldsmiths of the Imperial Court. By 1902, his workshop was appointed official supplier to Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Exhibiting alongside Fabergé at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Koehli served as a jury member and gained international recognition.

In 1903 he partnered with his son, Theodor-Friedrich (Fyodor Fyodorovich) Koehli, establishing F. & F. Koehli, which continued to produce fine gold and enamel works until 1911.

Starting price: 2500€
Estimate: 3000-4000€
Hammer Price: UNSOLD€