Lot 99: A SILVER PRESENTATION TRAY

marked Faberg‚ with Imperial warrant and with the unrecorded workmaster's mark L.O., Moscow 1895 Of shaped oval outline, the openwork border cast and chased with vigorous rocaille scrolls and flowers, the upper section applied with the dates: '1890' and '1895' centering an enamelled photographic portrait of Mr. Henry Allan Talbot Bowe, the Roman numeral: 'V' applied below, the cavetto with the presentation inscription, 'To much respected Allan Andreevich from sincerely grateful employees', the reverse of the tray engraved with names of Henry Bowe's colleagues, 'Prudnikov, Gibson, Ivanov, Balachev, Klodt K., Klodt E., Chepurnov, Okerman, Sokolov', marked on reverse 26in. (66cm.) wide 172.595 oz.(5368.3 gr.) PROVENANCE Henry Allan Talbot Bowe Phillips Geneva, 10 May 1988, lot 27, bought by Wartski as agent LITERATURE Forbes, C. & Tromeur-Brenner, R. Faberg‚, The Forbes Collection, New York, 1999, p. 224, ill. p. 225 EXHIBITION 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. 40, p. 43, ill. Knoxville, The Dogwood Arts Festival, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1991, no cat. Rochester, The Rochester Museum & Science Center, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1991, no cat. Gadsden, The Gadsden Center for Cultural Arts, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1992, no cat. Witchita, The Witchita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1992, no cat. St. Petersburg/Paris/London, State Hermitage Museum, Muse‚ des Arts D‚coratifs, Victoria and Albert Museum, Faberg‚: Imperial Jeweller, 1993/94, no. 231, pp. 105, 346, ill. p. 346 New York, Nassau County Museum of Art, La Belle poque, 1995, no cat. Albuquerque, The Museum of Natural History and Science, Faberg‚ Silver from The Forbes Magazine Collection, 1996, no cat. NOTES Henry Allan Talbot Bowe was born in South Africa in 1857. Upon the death of his parents he lived with relatives in England and later, in Switzerland. He was subsequently sent to live with an Uncle in Russia, who owned a large store in Moscow and started to work in the jewellry department where he rapidly acquired a comprehensive knowledge of precious stones and objets d'Art. In 1886, on a journey from Russia to Paris, Allan Bowe met Carl Faberg‚ Attracted by Bowe's knowledge and obvious business acumen, Faberg‚ asked him to become a business partner. In 1887 they founded the Moscow branch on the Kuznetsky Most and later Bowe was instrumental in the establishment of further branches in England, Kiev and Odessa. In all, their partnership lasted almost 20 years, until it was dissolved in 1906 when Allan Bowe returned to England. The Moscow workshop concentrated on producing silver items under the workshop manager Mikhail Tchepurnov, cloisonn‚ enamel, and to a lesser extent jewelled objects under the supervision of Knut Oskar Pihl. Catering for a rather different clientŠle to that of the more cosmopolitan St. Petersburg, there was an emphasis on traditional design endorsed by the Pan-Slavic revival of the period. For information on Henry Bowe's colleagues in Moscow see: T. Faberg‚, A. Gorinia and V. Skurlov, Faberg‚ and St. Petersburg jewellers, (St. Petersburg, 1997).