TWO-HANDLED FRUIT BOWL
.916-standard silver, silver-gilt
H. 4½ inches • Max. W. 12½ inches • D. 7⅞ inches
WORKMASTER: Alexander Wäkevä
DATE: 1908–1917
PLACE: St. Petersburg
MARKS OR SIGNATURES: On the base: double-headed eagle/K. FABERGÉ, in Cyrillic, in an oblong punch; kokoshnik head facing right with Greek letter alpha, 84 all in an elliptical punch; AW, partially struck
This elegant fruit bowl by Alexander Wäkevä (Russian, 1870–1957) was made by the Wäkevä workshop in St. Petersburg founded by his father Stephan Wäkevä (Finnish, 1833–1910). Wäkevä père arrived in St. Petersburg in 1843 at the age of ten to commence his apprenticeship as a silversmith. He must have exhibited superior talent and dedication, for he was awarded journeyman status at the age of sixteen in 1847 and achieved his master’s qualification in 1856. Stephan Wäkevä opened a workshop at 5 Rozhdestvenskaya Street, which supplied Fabergé with silverwares consisting principally of coffee and tea services, tankards, samovars and punchbowls. The two Wäkevä sons, Konstantin (Russian, 1867–1902) and Alexander, also both worked for the House of Fabergé, with the latter assuming the administration of the Wäkevä workshop upon the death of his father in 1910.
Confusion as to where the Wäkeväs worked has arisen because of the similarity of their mark in conjunction with a modified but very similar hallmark to that which Fabergé used on his Moscow-made silver. In the Moscow hallmark, the double-headed eagle formed part of the Fabergé name in an oblong punch. In the St. Petersburg mark, as observed here, the double-headed eagle appeared as a separate punch over the Fabergé name with or without the first initial K. In any case, this modified St. Petersburg mark, looking at first glance like that used by the Moscow silversmiths working for Fabergé, was used only by the resident St. Petersburg Fabergé smiths Julius Alexandrovich Rappoport (Russian, 1851–1917), Anders Johan Nevalainen (Finnish, 1858–1933), Stephan Wäkevä (Finnish, 1833–1910), his son Alexander Wäkevä (Russian, 1870–1957), the as-yet unidentified smith I.W. and the First Silver Artel, or I.C.A. (active in St. Petersburg, 1908–1917). The exact reason for this use of Fabergé’s “Imperial Warrant” mark in St. Petersburg silver remains obscure although it has been suggested that this small group of St. Petersburg masters may have been contracted to supply Moscow with certain specific silver objects.
It is clear that the production and sale of silver was an important source of income for the House of Fabergé. When his affluent clients were not purchasing silver hollow wares in the Louis XV, rococo or Louis XVI or First Empire modes, they selected pieces such as this fruit bowl of English inspiration in the late George III neoclassical taste. This was not surprising given the close ties between the fashionable aristocratic circles of Russia and England; the mother of Nicholas II and Queen Alexandra of England were sisters, for example. The navette form of the bowl, its ribbed lower body and rectilinear handles were all part of the Georgian neoclassical decorative vocabulary.
Like all of the silver retailed by the House of Fabergé, the bowl was crafted of metal of substantial gauge, and its quality was of the highest standard. The interior was gilded of which traces remain.
Pleaes contact for price