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Lot 104*

An aventurine quartz figure of a kingfisher
Fabergé, workmaster Henrik Wigström, St. Petersburg, 1899-1908

5 June 2019, 15:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £62,562.50 inc. premium

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An aventurine quartz figure of a kingfisher

Fabergé, workmaster Henrik Wigström, St. Petersburg, 1899-1908
the figure with diamond-set eyes is carved standing, supported by gold feet, 72 standard
height: 6.7cm (2 5/8in).

Footnotes

Provenance
Caroline, Lady Oppenheimer (1899-1971)
Then by direct descent

Within the group of Fabergé birds mounted on gold feet from Henrik Wigström's workshop that are preserved in the Royal Collection, a stylised model of a Kingfisher is of particular interest. The strong geometric design was inspired by Japanese netsuke whereas Lady Oppenheimer's kingfisher was more realistically modelled showing the breadth and variety of approaches by lapidarists supplying the same firm. The Royal example's purchase by either Edward VII in 1907 or his grandson, the future Edward VIII in 1913 reveals the Fabergé ledgers listed kingfishers as 'icebirds'. Added to this was the use of 'nephrite' as a blanket term for many green coloured stones in the Fabergé repertoire, illustrating the complexities involved in researching animal species and the minerals employed in the firm's output.

See de Guitaut, Fabergé in the Royal Collection, Royal Collection, London, 2003, p. 91, or visit the Royal Collection website www.rct.uk for RCIN 40387.

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