Provenance
Sale: Sotheby’s New York, 5 December 1997, Sale 7067, lot 505
The set comprises seven pieces: teapot, covered sugar bowl, cream jug, sugar sifter spoon, lemon fork, caddy spoon, and sugar tongs. All are contained in an original wooden box, the cover is lined with oyster silk printed with retailer’s details, ‘K. FABERGE, MOSCOW, S.PETERSBURG’ in Cyrillic letters with Imperial Warrant above, the body of the box lined with dark red velvet with matching silk in the recesses.
The pieces are of squat ovoid form with shaded polychrome cloisonné enamel eagles amidst profuse foliage and flowers in pink, green, yellow, foiled red, and shades of blue on a cream ground, edged with turquoise enamel bead borders, mother-of-pearl insulators, and finials, richly gilt interiors.
Ivan Saltykov – a renowned Russian silversmith and jeweller. In 1884, Saltykov founded a factory in Moscow, producing high-quality enamel wares.