Decorative object

In the style of Peter Carl Fabergé
St Petersburg 1846 – 1920 Switzerland
Russia
Photo frame, silver-gilt (88 Zolotniki, master’s mark EK), enamelled & decorated with diamonds all round
Sphinx, silver-gilt (88 Zolotniki, master’s mark EK)
Base made from cut agate
Length 10 cm, width 8 cm, height 12 cm
Diameter of photo frame 6.1 cm
Total weight 508 g

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

This decorative ornamental object in the style of Carl Fabergé is a table picture frame with a sphinx with a pharaoh’s face and Nemes headscarf on a cut agate base. It carries a photo frame on its head, the base of which is enamelled in turquoise and guilloched in a wavy pattern. Such table picture frames were popular and are often found in the form of columns; however, the depiction of a sphinx together with a picture frame is rare. However, the Lithuanian silversmith and Fabergé master Julius Alexander Rappoport created interesting decorative objects in the form of naturalistic animal figures, including sphinxes, for example as lighters or table bells.