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Oct 25, 2021

Kremlin Tower Clock

c. 1913

maker

House of Fabergé

(Russian, 1842–1918)

Russia, St. Petersburg, early 20th Century

Rhodonite, silver, enamel, emeralds, sapphires

Overall: 29 x 14.6 cm (11 7/16 x 5 3/4 in.)

The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.477

Location

211 Fabergé

Did you know?

The Kremlin tower, which this clock resembles, has a secret well and an underground tunnel that leads to the Moscow River.

Description

The use of Russian hardstones in creating precious objects became a hallmark of design from the House of Fabergé. Easily carved, these minerals were sourced largely from the western region surrounding the Ural Mountains. Fabergé's workmasters used colorful stones such as agate, nephrite (jade), lapis lazuli, rock crystal, and rhodonite, seen here in this elaborate table or mantel clock, to create all manner of luxurious accessories. Bright pink rhodonite was among the rarest, and consequently most expensive, specimens used by the House of Fabergé.

This clock resembles the Taynitskaya Tower, the middle tower on the south side of the Kremlin. The House of Fabergé created this work to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, representing Fabergé's ability to balance the functionality of objects with intricate decorative design.

Artist biography

House of Fabergé

Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920) took over the House of Faberge in 1870 from his father Carl Gustav Faberge who had founded the firm in 1842. Until 1881, the firm manufactured primarily jewelry for Saint Petersburg's aristocrats and wealthy elite. In 1885 the firm was awarded the coveted imperial warrant as goldsmith to the tsar and began to produce elaborate presentation Easter eggs as a gift for the tsarina from her husband every year. They also produced luxurious accessories, jewelry, and hardstone sculptures. At one point, Faberge employed over 300 workers including 22 workmasters who oversaw the production of the firm's jewelry and precious objects. A branch of the firm opened in Moscow in 1887, specializing in neo-Russian and pan-Slavic motifs in jewelry, silver, and enamel. Other branches followed in Kiev, London, and Odessa as well as new premises in Saint Petersburg. At the onset of the Russian Revolution, Peter Carl Faberge fled the country to Paris then Switzerland, where he died in 1920. His firm was nationalized by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Inscriptions

Inscription

84, Kokoshnik, delta [assay mark for Moscow, 1908-26]; 91, Kokoshnik; 91; Kokoshnik; C. Fabergé (in Cyrillic); double-headed eagle [imperial warrant]; 16419 k? scratched.

Inscription

Painted on clock face: Le Gruet (in script); strike, silence, set hand work (in English).

Provenance

?-1966

India Early Minshall [1885–1965], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1966-

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Citations

Hawley, Henry H. Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 120-1, cat. 57 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 103, cat. 77 library.clevelandart.org

Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, and Jeannine J. Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Mentioned: pp. 152, 213, cat. 68 library.clevelandart.org

Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 146

Exhibition history

The India Early Minshall Collection: Faberge and his Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 15, 1967-January 21, 1968).

Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).

Faberge, Imperial Jeweler. St. George Hall of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (June 18-August 15, 1993); Musée des arts Décoratifs, Paris, France (September 24, 1993-January 2, 1994); Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (January 26-April 10, 1994).

Fabergé in America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (February 12-May 5, 1996); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (organizer) (May 25-July 28, 1996); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (August 24-November 2, 1996); New Orleans Museum of Art (December 7, 1996-February 8, 1997); The Cleveland Museum of Art (March 12-May 11, 1997).

Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2008-January 18, 2009); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 7-May 31, 2009).

Fabergé: Romance to Revolution. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (November 20, 2021-May 8, 2022) https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/faberge.

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Kremlin Tower Clock|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.477|author=House of Fabergé|year=c. 1913|access-date=08 August 2022|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Kremlin Tower Clock

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House of Fabergé

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