FIGURE OF A SEATED ELEPHANT
Obsidian, gold, diamond
H. 1½ inches • W. 1 inch • D. (from tip of tusks to rump) 1⅞ inches
 
WORKMASTER: Unidentified

DATE: Probably 1908–18

PLACE: Probably St. Petersburg

MARKS AND SIGNATURES: None
 
REFERENCES:
For a similar seated elephant in grey chalcedony, see Geza von Habsburg and Alexander von Solodkoff, Fabergé, Court Jeweler to the Tsars, Rizzoli, New York, 1979, plate 100, 83.

For a similar figure in carnelian, see Geza von Habsburg, Fabergé, Imperial Craftsman and His World, Booth-Clibborn Editions, London, 2000, number 790, 303.
 
Peter Carl Fabergé was amused by the natural exaggerations of appearance in certain animals. He delighted in the rotundity of a fat sow, the slippery bulkiness of the hippopotamus and the massive loose, baggy quality of an elephant’s hide and sought to capture these qualities in his hardstone depictions of animals.
 
Elephants were among his favorite subjects, and he executed them in such stones as bowenite, rock crystal, lapis-lazuli and the obsidian seen in this example. The volcanic glassy obsidian has been highly polished to accent the natural chatoyancy of the material. Thus the tones in the hide of this elephant range from black to a pale silvery grey and are highlighted by the glitter of the faceted diamond eyes.
 
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