Fabergé Glass Box

Beautifully rare, this superb silver-mounted cut glass toilette box was crafted by legendary Russian jeweler and artisan Peter Carl Fabergé. The rounded cut glass box features a prism pattern and geometric hobnail star etchings along the top. The embellished toilette box is fitted with a silver lid featuring a simple and elgeant chased silver design. Nested just beneath the ornamental box top, a secondary inner lid is marked with the Russian Imperial warrant and “K. Fabergé" in Cyrillic. The marks are repeated again on the underside of the decorative lid. These marks firmly assert that this object was crafted by the hand of Fabergé during the reign of the last Emperor of Russia, Tsar Nicholas II of the Romanov dynasty. In 1896, Tsar Nicholas II issued an edict reforming the older assay marking system in favor of the Kokoshnik mark–a stamp featuring a woman in profile wearing a traditional Russian headdress along with a standard number. The presence of the Kokoshnik and “84” marks, along with Fabergé’s signature in Cyrillic date this toilette box to the final years of the Romanov’s Imperial Russia.

The House of Fabergé was founded in 1842 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, by Gustav Faberge. In 1872, Peter Carl Fabergé took over his father's small jewelry atelier and transformed it into the world's largest decorative arts enterprise of its kind. The firm built a devoted clientele, including members of the Romanov Imperial family, for whom they crafted their most precious pieces and the firm’s most celebrated Easter eggs. Perhaps crafted for the Romanovs or their contemporaries, this beautiful glass box reflects the elegant opulence of the last days of the Russian Empire.

In 1917, the Russian Revolution brought an end to the Romanov dynasty, the exile of Peter Carl Fabergé to Switzerland and a definitive halt to the original House of Fabergé. In the wake of the Revolution, many Fabergé treasures were lost or destroyed. Items of silver and gold, including the court and presentation pieces created for the Tsar, were melted down to mint silver ingots and rubles during the political and economic unrest, making surviving Fabergé silver from this time all the rarer.

This precious glass and silver toilette box serves as a reminder of the grandeur of Imperial Russia, the exceptional craftsmanship and artistry of Peter Carl Fabergé and also an incredibly significant period in world history. While celebrated Fabergé pieces can be found in museums around the globe, relatively few find their way to the open market. This silver mounted cut glass box is a testament to the legacy of Russian decorative arts as well as the life of one of the most talented and sought-after artisans in history.

Lid interior and underside marked with the Fabergé stamp in Cyrillic and Imperial warrant, 84 standard

Circa 1908

4" high x 4 3/8" wide x 4 3/8" deep