Lot 245: A Jeweled and Enameled Platinum Lorgnette

A Jeweled and Enameled Platinum Lorgnette
By Fabergé, probably Henrik Wigström, St. Petersburg, probably circa 1911
Rectangular with rounded ends, each panel enameled in matte black with rose-cut diamond-set borders, one panel set with the stylized rose-cut diamond-set crowned Cyrillic monogram 'MP' for the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the other set with intertwined laurel branches centering a rose-cut diamond, enclosing hinged eye-glasses, with diamond-set suspension loop, apparently unmarked
4¾ in. (12 cm.) long, excluding suspension loop

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna.
Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.
A Private Collector, acquired from the above circa 1940.
A Lady of Title, by descent from the above; sold Sotheby's, London, February 19, 1998, lot 467.

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (1854-1920) was born Marie Alexandrine Elisabeth Eleonore of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Augusta of Reuss-Köstritz. She married the third son of Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847-1909). Considered one of the grandest of the Grand Duchesses, she lived with her husband at Vladimir Palace on the Palace Embankment on the Neva River, where she earned a reputation as one of the finest hostesses in the capital.

Maria Pavlovna was one of last of the Romanovs to escape Russia. She eventually settled in France, where she died in 1920. She was renowned for her collection of thirty-four Fabergé flower studies and her collection of jewels, which was smuggled out of Russia and divided up among her children. One of her tiaras, the Vladimir Tiara, was purchased by Queen Mary following her death and is presently in the collection of Queen Elizabeth II.

The present lot, unusual in the oeuvre of Fabergé, is related to a lorgnette presented in 1911 to Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (sold Christie's New York, March 14, 1984, lot 436, and later in the Forbes Collection). The original design is illustrated in U. Tillander-Godenhielm, et al, Golden Years of Fabergé, drawings and objects from the Wigström workshops, Paris, 2000, pp. 22-23, 57.