Heritage had much to toast to with this important Fabergé cloisonné enameled gilt silver punch set by Feodor Rückert. A well-documented and interesting history of ownership came with it and it earned $750,000, noted to be a new world auction price for a Fabergé punch set.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
DALLAS — A year ago, Heritage Auctions debuted on May 17, 2024, a new stand-alone sale for Russian works of art (which previously had been sold sprinkled through other auctions) that achieved a stunning $7.25 million in 178 lots. The house followed that up on December 16, 2024, with a second sale, of 282 lots, that realized $10 million. The firm’s third sale of the category took place on May 13, when more than 400 bidders competed for 148 historically significant lots that showcased Russia’s exquisite decorative arts legacy from before and after its Revolution; the sale achieved $2.45 million.
“Heritage’s first two sales were landmark sales with exceptionally rare material that was fresh to the market. The most recent sale was a fine sale with exceptional prices, especially for the record-setting Fabergé punch service that sold to a private collector for $750,000,” noted Nick Nicholson, Heritage’s director of Russian works of art.
He continued, “We noticed more conservative bidding from non-US buyers in this sale, which is attributable not only to the sanctions which have existed since 2014 and were heightened in 2022, but also to the global uncertainty around international trade and the possibility of reciprocal and retaliatory tariffs. Some important works went unsold because potential Asian and European buyers were uncertain about what final costs might be. That said, we saw fantastic bidding and prices realized by many new US-based bidders who were buying Fabergé and Russian works of art for the first time. We are excited to work with these new collectors and to continue our development of this exciting new category at Heritage.”
The highest selling of two Fabergé frames from the firm’s Heritage Collection was this violet guilloche and white opaque enameled gold frame, 4-1/8 by 3 inches, which ended at $47,500.
The Fabergé punch service he referred to was a shaded cloisonné enameled gilt silver example, made by Fabergé workmaster Feodor Rückert and bearing marks for Moscow, 1896-1908, which realized $750,000. The set — which included 12 punch cups and its original lined oak presentation case — had been confiscated from Fabergé stock by the Soviet Authority in 1919 and was awarded to Paul Wachtler as a prize for the first All-Union Automobile Distance Trials in 1925. Wachtler, an executive at General Motors from 1916-45, passed it down through his family before it was sold at an auction in 2021.
Realizing the auction’s second-highest price of $162,500 was a pair of Imperial porcelain factory vases from the period of Alexander I (1801-1825); the only other known pair of this model are in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and, no doubt spurring interest, was the catalog’s observation the lot was “apparently the only pair extant outside of museum collections.”
A Russian Imperial gold-inlaid blackened steel presentation kinjal (double-edged dagger) given to Prince Robert, Duc de Chartres, a member of the French Royal Family, possibly on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Françoise of Orléans. The selling price of $75,000 may be a record for a Russian Imperial presentation kinjal.
Several pieces from the Fabergé Heritage Collection, assembled nearly two decades ago as an archival reference for the revived Fabergé firm, were chased by bidders as well.
This Imperial Fabergé gem-set coin-mounted and guilloche enameled gilt silver miniature bratina, owned by Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, had been auctioned previously, in 1994 (Christie’s, Geneva) and again in 2010 (Sotheby’s, London). Heritage sold it for $57,500.
Among these, an Imperial Fabergé gem-set coin-mounted and guilloché enameled gilt silver miniature bratina (traditional Russian ceremonial drinking vessel) purchased by Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich and his sister Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, sold for $57,500. Also from the Fabergé Heritage Collection, two miniature frames ($47,500 and $45,000) and an amethyst brooch purchased by the Imperial Cabinet for presentation by Empress Maria Feodorovna ($27,500).
Among other top sellers was a cloisonné enameled and gem-set gilt silver kovsh by Grigorii Mikhailovich Sbitnev, a renowned Moscow silversmith and enameller who often worked in elongated or adapted form.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For more information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.com.
