Faberge nephrite leaf from the Bra Nobel's wreath on Alexander III"s coffin, 1894

£8,500.00

Description

The leaf was made of Siberian nephrite by Faberge as a part of wreath for Alexander III funeral in 1894. The leaf is in a fitted black leather case with signature in Cyrillic on the lid : “Листокъ отъ вѢнка воэложеннаго Товариществомъ на гробъ АЛЕКСАНДРА III” (The leaf from the wreath laid on the Alexander III coffin by company). The wreath was ordered by the company “Bra Nobel” ( it was an oil company set up by Ludvig Nobel and Baron Peter von Bilderling). Members of Nobel family were invited to royal funeral, therefore they ordered a wreath to be carved by Faberge. One of the leaves from the wreath was consigned by a direct descendant to Gösta Nobel (1886-1955) inherited within the family. As Gösta was only nine in 1894 he most certainly got it from his half-brother, then head of the Nobel family, Emanuel (1859-1932), known as one of Fabergé largest clients.

An idea of what the wreath might have looked like can be obtained from the wreath that the Russian tsar family sent to King Oskar II's funeral and which still hangs in the Bernadotte burial choir in Riddarholm Church. Unlike Nobel's wreath, which was apparently made up of individual leaves, this one consists of two crossed twigs. A twig with oak and one with bay leaves, each carved from a piece of Siberian nephrite. The wreath is described by Fabergé's chief designer, Franz Birbaum, as among the finest stone carvings made by Carl Fabergé.

Provenance: the leaf in the box was illustrated and described in the book written by M.Nobel-Oleinikoff “Ludvig Nobel”, published in Stockholm in 1952.

ENQUIRE ABOUT THIS PRODUCT

Product REF: 1894