the carved blue jade handle in the form of a snail, the collar decorated with opaque multi-coloured enamel bound by stylised gold fronds, mounted with a steel blade for pruning.
Signed with the initials of the chief workmaster Michael Perchin.
St. Petersburg, 1886-1899.
The choice of a snail as a handle for a gardening knife is inspired in terms of theme and function, the mollusc sufficiently extended from its shell to a perfect form for the hand.
Length of handle excluding blade: 10.5 cm.
Literature
Exhibition catalogue, Japonisme: from Falize to Fabergé, London, 2011, p. 77, no. 144 (illustrated).
Exhibition catalogue, Carl Fabergé. A Private Collection, London, 2012, pp. 148-149, no. 124 (illustrated).
Wartski: The First One Hundred and Fifty Years, London, 2015, p. 267 (illustrated).
Exhibited
London, Wartski, Japonisme: From Falize to Fabergé, 10 – 20 May 2011, no. 144.
London, Wartski, Carl Fabergé. A Private Collection, 15 – 25 May 2012, no. 124.
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