Lot 122: A SILVER-GILT MOUNTED GLASS DECANTER AND STOPPER

marked Faberg‚ and with the workmaster's mark of Johan Victor Aarne, St. Petersburg, 1896-1908 The cut-glass bottle engraved on one side with the portrait of Tsar Alexander I and with his monogram and Imperial crown on the other, both surrounded by tied laurel leaves, stopper marked 7 1/8in. (17.8cm.) high PROVENANCE Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 30 November 1972, lot 39 A La Vieille Russie, New York, December 1976 LITERATURE Waterfield, H. & Forbes, C. Faberg‚ Imperial Eggs and Other Fantasies, New York, 1978, no. 124, pp. 97, 135, ill. p. 97 von Solodkoff, A. Masterpieces from the House of Faberg‚, New York, 1984, p. 180, ill. Forbes, C. & Tromeur-Brenner, R. Faberg‚, The Forbes Magazine Collection, New York, 1999, p. 217, ill. p. 216 EXHIBITION Virginia/Minneapolis/Chicago, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Faberg‚, Selections from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1983, no 59, p. 15 Fort Worth, The Kimbell Art Museum, Faberg‚, The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1983, no. 132 Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Faberg‚, The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1984, no. 127 New York, Place des Antiquaires, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1987/88, no cat. Kansas City, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine collection, 1988, no cat. Cheekwood, The Tennessee Botanical Gardens and Fine Arts Center, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1988, no cat. Atlanta, The High Museum Antiques Show, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1988, no cat. Seatle, The Bank of California, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1988/89, no cat. St. Louis, The St. Louis Antiques Show, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1989, no cat. Oklahoma, The Oklahoma Arts Center, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1989/90, no cat. Tulsa, The Philbrook Museum of Art, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1990, no cat. Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1990, no cat. Memphis, The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1990, no cat. London, Sotheby's, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1991, no. 28, p. 35, ill. p. 34 Charlotte, The Mint Museum of Art, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1994, no cat. New York/San Francisco/Richmond/New Orleans/Cleveland, Metropolitan Museum of Art, H.M. De Young Memorial Museum, Museum of Fine Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, IFaberg‚ in America, 1996/97, no. 228, p. 233, ill. NOTES For a similar XIX Century Russian bottle mounted with a similar Faberg‚ silver stopper, see, the Herbette Collection, Christie's Geneva, 25 May 1971, lot 235. It was not unusual for the Faberg‚ firm to enhance old or functional items and to transform them into works of art. Faberg‚ workmasters used to enamel old Russian coins and set them as brooches or, as in thecase of 91 in this sale, they used simple bricks setting them with silver satyrs and transforming them into match holders.