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Source Description
The swan's head and neck are rendered in red and green gold with exceptional attention being given to the delineation of the feathers and their veins. Its tail, which serves as the handle for this thinly carved nephrite kovsh, is also in gold and is reeded and wrapped around a Russian five-ruble coin bearing the likeness of Nicholas II. The inscription on its face reads in Cyrillic: His Imperial Majesty Nicholas Emperor, Autocrat of Russia, By the Grace of God and on its reverse, in Cyrillic: Five Rubles 1898. Although the insertion of coins into the surfaces of silver vessels can be traced to the 17th century, if not earlier, Fabergé has elaborated on the practice by applying a bright strawberry red, en plein enamel to the background of the image.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
82488
label
Swan Kovsh
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
82488
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Swan Kovsh
description
The swan's head and neck are rendered in red and green gold with exceptional attention being given to the delineation of the feathers and their veins. Its tail, which serves as the handle for this thinly carved nephrite kovsh, is also in gold and is reeded and wrapped around a Russian five-ruble coin bearing the likeness of Nicholas II. The inscription on its face reads in Cyrillic: His Imperial Majesty Nicholas Emperor, Autocrat of Russia, By the Grace of God and on its reverse, in Cyrillic: Five Rubles 1898. Although the insertion of coins into the surfaces of silver vessels can be traced to the 17th century, if not earlier, Fabergé has elaborated on the practice by applying a bright strawberry red, en plein enamel to the background of the image.
provenance
Sir Charles Clore Sale, Sotheby's, London, October 28, 1985, Lot 183; Jean M. Riddell, Washington, D.C., 1985, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2010, by bequest.
date
1898-1903
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
dishes
kovshi
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
4.8
height
9.9
depth
4.6
dimensionsRaw
H: 1 7/8 × W: 3 7/8 × D: 1 13/16 in. (4.8 × 9.9 × 4.6 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Marks] 72
MP; [Translation of inscription] His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II Emperor
Autocrat of Russia
by the Grace of God 1898
med
nephrite, quatre-couleur gold, enamel, rubies
creator_ids
1921
3742
4493
collection_ids
EAN
exhibition_ids
3423
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
6439b493b983fc28
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
1ee0fff1785bc6b8
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no