Princess Zinaida Yusupova: A Fabergé Ruby and Diamond-Set Gold-Mounted Chinese Jade Lotus-Form Dish in the Qing Style Fabergé, Workmaster Mikhail Perkhin, St. Petersburg, circa 1895-1903 1-3/4 x 3-5/8 x 2-5/8 inches (4.4 x 9.2 x 6.7 cm) 122 grams (gross) PROVENANCE: Princess Zinaida Yusupova, Countess Soumarokoff-Elston; Estate of Baron Pierre de Menasce; Doyle, New York, Asian Works of Art, March 17, 2014, lot 276. EXHIBITED: The Baron von Derviz Exhibition (also called the Charity Exhibition of Fabergé Artistic Objects, Old Miniatures, and Snuff Boxes), St. Petersburg, March 1902. The carved Chinese jade dish [cendrier] in the manner of a Qing dynasty lotus-leaf brush-washing bowl, mounted with a gold handle in the form of a lotus stem and tendril set with thirty rose-cut diamonds and a large oval cabochon ruby 3.7 carats and of Burmese origin, struck Fabergé to the underside of mount and with workmaster's marks in Cyrillic "M.P" for Mikhail Perkhin, together with a ruby and diamond set reticulated gold stand en suite, apparently unmarked. Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, Countess Soumarokoff-Elston (1861 – 1939) Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova was born September 2, 1861, one of three children of the eminent courtier Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov and his wife, born Countess Tatiana Alexandrovna de Ribeaupierre. Prince Yusupov came from a long line of statesmen, courtiers, and collectors of fine art, and was sole heir to one of Imperial Russia's greatest fortunes, comprising more than 100,000 acres of land (about the size of Iceland) and one of the most important collections of palaces and art in Russia besides the Imperial Collections. After her two siblings, Prince Boris Nikolaevich and princess Tatiana Nikolaevna each died young, Zinaida Nikolaevna became one of Europe's greatest heiresses. In addition to her fortune, Zinaida was one of the most beautiful women of her generation and enjoyed enormous favor at the Imperial Court. In 1882, Zinaida fell in love with Count Felix Soumarokoff-Elston (1856-1928) and the couple were married. The new Emperor Alexander III, who had been fond of Zinaida since childhood, broke established Russian tradition, and created her new husband a Prince Yusupov in his own right, appending her husband's comital title to that of the princely Yusupov name. In this way, the children of the marriage would be born Yusupovs, and heirs to the family's great fortune. The new Prince and Princess Yusupov, Count and Countess Soumarokoff-Elston became one of the most socially and politically important couples in the country, and were part of the inner circle of the Imperial Family. The Yusupovs had two sons, Prince Nikolai Felixovich, and a second son, Prince Felix Felixovich. Nikolai Felixovich was killed in an illegal duel in 1908, and her second son married Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia in 1914, tying the Yusupovs even more closely to the Romanovs. Felix's role in the December 1916 murder of Rasputin strained these relations, and he was exiled to one of his families' country estates as punishment, which may have saved him during the bloody days of the Revolution. Zinaida Nikolaevna and her husband fled south to the Crimea, carrying as many valuables as they were able, and joined the Romanovs on the south. Eventually, in 1919, they joined the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, and their children on the British ship Marlborough and fled the country for good. The Yusupovs went to live in Rome, where they, having lost their fortune, survived off of the sales of jewels, artworks, and other personal property which they had maintained abroad. After the death of her husband in 1928, Princess Yusupova moved to Paris to be closer to her son, his wife, and their daughter, also called Irina. Princess Yusupova died in November of 1939, shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War. She is buried in the Russian Cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois. The Yusupovs and the Fabergé Firm The Yusupovs had a long and fruitful relationship with the firm of Fabergé. Princess Yusupov was an avid client of the house for decades, and many family occasions were marked with the production of impressive and original works of art equal in quality to works produced for the Imperial Family. As a noted collector, she was invited to participate in the 1902 "Charity Exhibition of Fabergé Artistic Objects, Old Miniatures, and Snuff Boxes" by Fabergé in the collections of the Imperial family, one of very few aristocrats to be invited. Notable works produced by Fabergé for the Yusupovs include The Yusupov Egg of 1907 which was made for the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary of Prince Yusupov and his wife (now in the collection of the Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz, Lausanne, Switzerland), and an exceptional music box ordered by the Yusupov's sons Nikolai and Felix Felixovich that same year (now in the collection of the Hillwood Museum and Gardens, Washington, DC, Acc. no. 11.80.1-2). Documentation Unlike many objects created by the firm, this piece may be confirmed to be part of the production not because of a surviving bill (which are as yet undiscovered in Russian archives), but because of an anecdotal description from Zinaida's son Prince Felix Yusupov, together with compelling photographic documentation confirming the presence of this work in the Yusupov Palace and at the celebrated von Derviz exhibition. In his memoirs "Lost Splendour" (Paris, 1954), Prince Felix Yusupov described his mother's collections and in particular the objects in her small salon: "The furniture of the petit salon had belonged to Marie Antoinette; paintings by Boucher, Fragonard, Watteau, Hubert Robert and Greuze hung on the walls, the rock crystal chandelier had graced Mme. De Pompadour's boudoir, the most lovely knickknacks were scattered in the tables or displayed in cabinets: gold and enamel snuffboxes, ashtrays of amethyst, topaz and jade with gem-incrusted gold settings." (Yusupov, p. 62) This direct mention in family literature is coupled with a surviving photograph of Princess Yusupov in the petit salon, ca. 1900 (now in the collection of the Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum-Preserve) which shows the offered lot sitting on the corner of an occasional table, its distinctive white banding and unique handle clearly visible. Another surviving photograph of the Von Derviz exhibition of 1902 shows the case of materials belonging to Princess Yusupov, labeled "Property of Princess Z.N. Yusupova", and where the lotus dish may be seen in a corner of on the first level of the vitrine, again with its distinctive ruby-set diamond handle and ruffled edge visible. The de Menasce Collection The de Menasce family, descended from Austro-Hungarian banker Baron Jacob-Levi de Menasce, played a prominent role in the Jewish community of Alexandria, Egypt. Elevated to the nobility by the Austrian emperor, Baron Jacob-Levi had four sons, including Baron Félix Béhor de Menasce (1865-1943). Baron Félix and his wife Rosette were among Alexandria's notable collectors, and their eldest son Georges de Menasce inherited his father's taste for collecting. The de Menasce collection boasted Roman and Syrian glass, exquisite Mughal jades, Jaipur enamels, Persian jewels, watches and automata, gold snuff boxes, tapestries and embroideries from Greece and Turkey, paintings, rare carpets, and even Fabergé, which all found a place in the remarkable collection. Baron Félix's true passion was for Chinese works of art, and his collection, arguably the finest and most extensive held privately at the time, stood as a testament to his discerning eye and dedication. Many of these pieces passed to his son Georges de Menasce, and major sales of the Chinese works inherited from his father and collected by him were sold, Spink & Son Limited in London, part I from May 5-21, of 1971 and part 2 held from May 10-26, 1972. The offered lot comes from the estate of Baron Pierre de Menasce, the son of Georges, and the grandson of Felix. It is possible that this work descended from father to son. Russian or Chinese Origin This dish forms part of a remarkably small number of works by Fabergé executed after Chinese models. While Chinoiserie style pieces are found throughout Fabergé's production, there are relatively few works which deliberately copy or interpret Asian forms. The form of this dish, which looks to Qing lotus-form brush washing dishes, has been mistaken for an actual Chinese work for many years. It may have been acquired by the de Menasce family as Fabergé mounted Chinese piece, and auction specialists have identified it as such in the past. Recent examination by Chinese and Russian specialists suggest that the jade bowl is not of Chinese manufacture, the shape and engraving of the piece not being consistent with Chinese models of the period. Russian Fabergé expert Dr. Valentin Skurlov notes that the inspiration for this piece was already well-rooted in Russian taste. Since the 1850s Russians actively collected Chinese works, and notes : "In 1899 the soldiers of Semenovsky battalion brought to St. Petersburg the trophies from Beijing (formerly Peking) Emperor's Palace. These objects of Chinese art stirred an additional interest to the development of the line of carved stone items at the Fabergé Company." Skurlov concludes that the carving of the jade was likely executed by the masters of Woerffel factory or by Robert Pestou, who worked for the Fabergé company from the early 1880s until 1914. (cf. Faberge, Kohler, Skurlov, Fabergé A Comprehensive Reference Book, Slatkine: Geneva, 2012, p. 238). Skurlov also notes that works in Chinese jade are disproportionally rare; of the approximately 33,000 recorded inventory numbers of Fabergé in Russian archives, only 336 have been found to be noted as having been made of Jade, rather than Nephrite. Heritage Auctions thanks Valentin Skurlov and Anna and Vincent Palmade for their assistance with the research of this lot, and the permission of the Palmades to publish an image from their upcoming work on the von Derviz Exhibition. Property from an Important Private Collection HID03101062020 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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