Don't have an account yet?

Click here to register »


I am already registered - Login:




Compulsory auction - Please note the special bidding terms of the FCA.
Lot 3888 - S16 Fabergé & Objets de Vertu Compulsory auction - Tuesday, 22. June 2021, 04.00 PM

MINIATURE ROULETTE WHEEL, BY FABERGÉ, St. Petersburg, 1846-1920.

Maker's mark Fedor Afanassiev, inventory no. 18955.
Enamelled miniature roulette wheel with pearl ball, the wheel enamelled with translucent red over an engraved ground and opaque black, held beneath a rock crystal cover, the body enamelled green over radiating sunburst guillochages, with white enamel rims, the tapering two coloured gold trigger with a finely chased finial. Ca. 5 cm Ø. H ca. 1,5 cm.

Sir Ernest Cassell was one of Fabergé's most frequent customers, close friend of King Edward VII and mentor of Winston Churchill. Fabergé made only two roulette wheels and this is believed to be the only surviving one. The other was purchased by Leopold de Rothschild and changed hands several times: Lord Carnarvon, King Faruk of Egypt, Wartski and Mrs. Henry Ford II. She used to take it to entertain guests at picnics on the beach, where she left it behind one day and it was washed away by the tide.

Provenance:
- Purchased by Sir Ernest Cassell from Fabergé's London branch on Dover Street on 24th November 1909 for £23. In Fabergé's ledgers it is described as 'Roulette, green en, white opq. en rims, seal silver, red & black'.
- Thence by family descent.
- Wartski, London.
- Private property Switzerland, acquired at the above address in 2008.


CHF 210 500 / 0 | (€ 217 010 / 0)