A jewelled coloured gold case by Carl Fabergé,
of oval cross section, formed from alternating and tapering swirls of richly coloured green and red gold, its raised thumbpiece set with rose cut diamonds.
Workmaster: August Hollming, St. Petersburg, 1908- 1917, inventory number: 19678, 56 zolotnik gold standard.
7.8 cm by 3.9 cm by 2.8 cm
Provenance
The case was acquired from Fabergé’s London branch on 23rd December 1910 by R. C Ashton Esq. for £35. It is described in the firm’s’ sales ledgers as a;
‘Cigtte case, oval red + green gold, roses’
Robert Cecile Ashton (b.1888 – d.1912) was the son of Col. Robert Ashton and a member of a wealthy family of cotton manufacturers. After Col. Ashton’s death in 1898, his mother Lucy married the 10th Earl of Scarbrough and was styled as Countess of Scarbrough.
Mr Ashton’s sister, Dorothy Violet married Lt. Col. Gerald Wellesley, later 7th Duke of Wellington in 1914. They separated in 1922 when she left her husband and children to live with Vita Sackville-West.
When Mr Ashton died in 1912, at the young age of 24, his estate was valued at £467,902; equalling approximately £52 million today.
Bearing 1909 import marks for Fabergé’s English shipping agent Rosenberg Lowe & Co.