The Unbeatable success of Fabergé

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

He was an entrepreneur who knew how to choose his customers! In 1885, Karl Fabergé was appointed by Alexander III official supplier to the imperial court of Russia. He remained in that position under Nicholas II, until the October Revolution.

We could not imagine a better clientele. Memorabilia of the Russian imperial family are still regularly proposed in specialized sales in Drouot (Paris), in particular by the auction house Coutau-Bégarie. They loved to shoot photos and to be photographed (that is just now if these photos are not sold by weight, but here, I exaggerate a little bit) and other souvenirs are also common.

The habit in this refined society was to make small gifts, and Fabergé supplied them. Source Wikipedia, we learn that Fabergé offered objects in a great range and produced 150 000 of them between 1882 and 1917. His company took up to 500 employees, with branches in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, Kiev and London.

On November 24 in London, Sotheby's devotes a whole sale to one hundred of such small gifts, that had been received at that time by one of these princesses. Of course, the brand Faberge is the majority. There are no major items in this sale, no eggs, no major silverware, just those little things that reinforced the links between members of this closed "network".

The top lot is a miniature portrait showing the dowager empress Maria Fyodorovna in a heart-shaped frame (Lot 25, estimated £ 60 K). It was the Christmas gift of 1905 from the Empress to her younger sister. In recent seasons, Russian artefacts always exceed their estimates. This will happen to this one also.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

I announced that the estimate would be exceeded. It was obvious.

The result confirms: £ 230 K inclusive.