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The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville: A Fabergé two color gold-mounted silver & guilloché enamel pencil holder & paper knife, workmaster Anders Nevalainen, St. Petersburg, 1908-1910, with scratched inventory number 20480. Of dagger form, the exterior enameled translucent blue over an engine-turned ground, the mount with a two color gold collar chased with a laurel wreath band. Struck with workmaster’s initials, 56 gold standard, & 88 silver standard (under enamel). Length 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm).
Provenance: The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville (1862-1942) purchased a “pencil & paper cutter lt. blue en: gold mts” from Fabergé’s London shop on the 19th of December, 1910 for £4 5s. The ledger further noted the cost of the item at 23 rubles.
Dame Margaret Helen Greville, Hon Mrs Greville, DBE (1863–1942), was a British society host, art collector, & philanthropist. She assembled a large collection of works by Fabergé & other jewelers of the period. Her love for the firm’s designs was so well known that visitors to Polesden Lacey, her home outside London, often brought her pieces purchased at the Russian Court Jeweler’s British outlet as gifts. Members of the British Royal family were frequent visitors; Dame Margaret was close friends with Queen Mary, wife of Edward V, & the couple were frequent visitors. Like Queen Mary, she assembled a large collection of Fabergé’s carved hardstone animals as well as cases, paper knives, & other luxurious accessories beloved by the Edwardians. She bequeathed the very best of her jewels to Queen Elizabeth, wife of King George VI, & those important tiaras, earrings, & necklaces are often worn by members of the Royal family today. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother wrote fondly of Greville after her death in 1942, saying that “I shall miss her very much indeed […], she was so shrewd, so kind, so amusingly unkind, so sharp, such fun, so naughty […], & altogether a real person, a character, utterly Mrs Ronald Greville & no tinge of anything alien.”
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