Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Acquired by the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty from Fabergé's St Petersburg branch on 28 February 1913 for 50 roubles
Transferred to Moscow and Nationalised after October 1917 then sold on by Gokhran
Acquired by the present owner from Wartski in 1988

LITERATURE
K. Snowman, Fabergé: Lost and Found, London, 1993, p.126
Habsburg & Lopato, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, Washington D.C., 1993, p. 262
U.Tillander-Godenhielm, The Russian Imperial Award System 1894-1917, Helsinki, 2005, p. 195

The pendant commemorates the tercentenary anniversary of Romanov rule incorporating the 1613-1913 dates, the cap of Monomakh and Imperial Eagle in its design. Although Fabergé jewellery was normally encased in light wooden boxes, items made specifically for His Imperial Majesty's Cabinet were usually covered in fine morocco leather and stamped with a gold Imperial eagle (as illustrated). The lavish celebrations held between February and May 1913 it evokes, were marked by a carefully orchestrated Imperial pilgrimage by Nicholas II and his family, retracing the route taken by Mikhail Feodorovich, the first Romanov Tsar in 1613 from Kostroma to his coronation in Moscow. The festivities included an extensive programme of religious masses, banquets, balls and receptions.

It followed that a number of presentation gifts were created in honour of the jubilee and that the task fell to Fabergé, as supplier to the Imperial Court. Henry Bainbridge, manager of Fabergé's London shop from 1908-1917, remarked that Alexandra Feodorovna designed a number of commemorative jewels incorporating the crown of Monomach to mark the occasion. Conceived originally for Grand Duchesses and designated ladies of the court, these required elaboration into working designs. This task fell to Albert Holmström's niece Alma Pihl. According to Dr Tillander-Godenhielm, the resulting collection consisted of six different models for pendants of which 113 examples were made integrating the Imperial eagle in combination with the Monomakh cap, often with the 1613-1913 dates and sometimes with the griffon, the heraldic symbol of the Romanovs.

Within the context of Revolution and war, melted down Fabergé objects and destroyed archives, we are extremely fortunate that Pihl's design survives in Holmström's design book published by Wartski's late chairman. A colour plate showing the proposed lot complete with its amethyst pendants placed against the design shows how faithfully the necklace evolved from the original concept. See Fabergé: Lost & Found, A. Kenneth Snowman, London, 1993, p.126.

Furthermore, archival research into the scratch inventory number confirms that the proposed pendant was purchased from Fabergé on 28 February 1913 along with a number of other items commissioned by order of the Imperial cabinet. The original invoice includes 98 other items listed in the cabinet records as 'brooches and pendant with emblems commemorating the 300th anniversary of the house of Romanov worked by the jeweller Fabergé'. By converting the Fabergé scratch number to the Cabinet room inventory system, it appears the proposed pendant was nationalised along with other Cabinet items and evacuated to Moscow in 1917 after which is was sold on by Gokhran. It emerged again with Wartski and was widely published following the firm's discovery of the Holmström design books.