A Fabergé Translucent Cobalt Guilloché Enameled Gilt Silver Table Lighter in the Form of a Classical Urn Fabergé, Workmaster Victor Aarne, St. Petersburg, 1899-1908 4-1/4 x 2-3/4 x 1-3/4 inches (10.8 x 7.0 x 4.4 cm) 210 grams (gross) PROVENANCE: Ruth S. Nelkin records in her notes that this was privately purchased as a "gum pot" for $7700. Smoking was a near-universal habit in prerevolutionary Russia, and the implements and accessories for smoking were a large part of Fabergé's output: cigarette cases, cigar boxes, vesta cases, match strikes, ashtrays, and table lighters were a crucial part of the elegant smoker's collection. Table lighters, from which smokers could grab a ready flame for cigarettes or cigars without striking sulfurous matches indoors, were an elegant solution, and Fabergé made models in silver, gold, enamels, and hardstones, often in whimsical forms such an animals, but sometimes as here, in a classical and architectural form suited to St. Petersburg taste. Related classical models were sold: Christie's, New York, Russian Works of Art, April 15, 2013, lot 15; Christie's, London, Important Russian Art, November 25, 2019, lot 207, and Sotheby's, Geneva, November 15, 1988, lot 167. Property from the Nelkin Collection HID03101062020 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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