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Source Description
In creating luxurious accessories for a desk or tabletop, Fabergé often used native hardstones such as multicolored agate and jasper, green nephrite, pink rhodonite, and rock crystal found in the Ural Mountains of western Russia. By paying careful attention to the unique colors and textures of the stones, Fabergé and his craftsmen brought them to life, turning milky agate into this turtle bell push or black jasper into sleeping puppies. The use of native materials also promoted Russian nationalism, which appealed greatly to the tsar and his family.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
142769
label
Turtle Bell Push
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
142769
contentType
object
title
Turtle Bell Push
description
In creating luxurious accessories for a desk or tabletop, Fabergé often used native hardstones such as multicolored agate and jasper, green nephrite, pink rhodonite, and rock crystal found in the Ural Mountains of western Russia. By paying careful attention to the unique colors and textures of the stones, Fabergé and his craftsmen brought them to life, turning milky agate into this turtle bell push or black jasper into sleeping puppies. The use of native materials also promoted Russian nationalism, which appealed greatly to the tsar and his family.
date
c. 1895–1915
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60761841
creators
55332
genreSpecific
Miscellaneous
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 2.6 x 7.7 x 6.1 cm (1 x 3 1/16 x 2 3/8 in.)
cul
Russia, St. Petersburg
accession
1966.473
Source extras
tec
agate, gold, silver, diamonds, rubies
tombstone
Turtle Bell Push, c. 1895–1915. House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918). Agate, gold, silver, diamonds, rubies; overall: 2.6 x 7.7 x 6.1 cm (1 x 3 1/16 x 2 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The India Early Minshall Collection, 1966.473
collection
Decorative Arts
inscriptions
inscription
7434 scratched
didYouKnow
To summon the butler, a quick push on the turtle's head would ring the bell downstairs.
citations
citation
Hawley, Henry H. <em>Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 84, cat. 41; reproduced: p. 85
citation
Fabergé, Peter Carl, and Deborah E. Horowitz. <em>The Fabergé Menagerie</em>. Exh. Cat. Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum, in association with London: Philip Wilson Pub, 2003.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 188, cat. 120
creditline
The India Early Minshall Collection
updatedAt
2026-06-18 18:46:39.076000
sourceId
142769
dept
Decorative Art and Design
coll
Decorative Arts
med
agate, gold, silver, diamonds, rubies
creatorTags
gender unknown
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
4663f6148e8c764a