A highly significant unique colonnade clock

In the style of Peter Carl Fabergé
Saint Petersburg 1846 – 1920 Switzerland
Russia
Circa 2000
Height 24.5 cm, diameter 12.5 cm
Based on the colonnade egg by Fabergé from 1910
Russian jade, pink enamel
Decorated in 14kt yellow gold (marked)
Circumferential 8 columns with ionic capitals
Two doves in the centre, symbolising a pair of lovers
Dome decorated with openwork gold ornaments & diamonds, at the top a pink cabochon-cut semi-precious stone
Figures of the egg-shaped clock set with diamonds, in the hand an oval diamond of 6 mm
On the back the movement is to be wound, key also 14kt yellow gold
Time display by rotation of the numerals
Clock running, movement not checked
First-class condition (1 diamond, diameter approx. 1mm, missing), can easily be replaced

The goldsmith and jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé is known for his artistic pieces of jewellery, especially the Fabergé eggs. However, he also produced other works and exerted great influence on subsequent generations of jewellers.

This extremely valuable piece not only impresses with its use of precious materials such as gold, jade, and wavy guilloché pink as well as white enamel, but also with its unusual design, which incorporates elements from various major works by Carl Fabergé. There are only four Fabergé Easter eggs in total that contain a clock. The colonnade architecture is related to that of the 1910 Colonnade Egg, which was made by Henrik Wigström under Fabergé’s supervision and is now in the Royal Collection (RCIN inv. no. 40084) of the British royal family. It is a revolving clock egg that was created for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia as a gift for his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. The architecture of the Colonnade Egg symbolises the temple of love, with this interpretation being underpinned by the addition of a pair of doves as a symbol of lovers. However, the time is shown in Arabic numerals. This is not the case with the Madonna Lily Egg from 1899, where the time is shown in Roman numerals, similar to the object presented here. The enamelled band with twelve diamond-decorated numerals rotates around the perimeter of the egg; the clock is wound using a gold key. It was made by Michael Perchin and also served as a gift from the Tsar to his wife. Today, this egg is kept in the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow (inv. no. MP-653/I-2).