A Fabergé two-color gold-mounted palisander wood cigarette case, Moscow, 1899-1908. The rectangular body made of palisander, with hinged lid diagonally applied with two interlocking yellow gold laurel vines, set with small rose-cut diamonds & tied with a rose gold ribbon. Struck with Cyrillic initials KF & 56 gold fineness standard. Dimensions: 3 3/8 x 2 1/4 in. (8.6 cm x 5.7 cm).
Provenance:
Christie’s New York, October 25, 1988, Lot 89.
Fabergé’s works in wood are relatively rare, but they include a range of fascinating cases for cigarettes & gloves, as well as table cigarette & cigar boxes, lamps, vitrines & tables. Fabergé’s workshops were known to have used over twenty varieties of woods, including highly figured varieties from Russia such as Karelian birch & bird’s eye maple as well as more exotic materials such as tigerwood, kingwood, & mahogany. On the firm’s designs in wood, see Tatiana F. Fabergé, Eric-Alain Kohler & Valentin V. Skurlov, Fabergé: A Comprehensive Reference Book, Editions Slatkine, 2012, pp. 396-397 & Kieran McCarthy, “Luxury in Wood: Forgotten Fabergé,” The Antique Dealers & Collectors Guide, May-June 2004, pp. 40-42.