DALLAS, TX.- The Imperial, Pre-Soviet Russia was awash in extraordinary art and culture, and on May 17 Heritage presented an Imperial Fabergé & Russian Works of Art Signature® Auction — its first auction dedicated to the country’s stunning cultural history and output predating the Russian Revolution of 1917. The auction result, more than double its high estimate, brought $5.69 million on 179 lots with 98% sell-through rate by lot and well over 100% by value, and a new record set for Fabergé. Highlights included museum-quality works by Fabergé made for the Imperial House of Romanoff from private collections, as well as Russian paintings, icons, porcelain, furniture and Romanoff archival materials from the Estate of Princess Maria Romanoff. From the sweeping Nelkin Collection out of Stamford, Connecticut came an exceptional selection of Fabergé, Moscow enamels and Russian Imperial porcelain.

“It was a classic Russian Works of Art sale, with Imperial Fabergé, enamels, paintings, sculpture, furniture, decorative arts and Imperial ephemera of a type not seen in the U.S. since the 1990s when the Russian market moved to London. Collectors responded eagerly,” says Nick Nicholson, Heritage’s Senior Specialist in Russian Works of Art. “All the objects in the sale were consigned by American collectors and American estates, and the majority of significant lots were purchased by U.S. collectors. The sale shows that the market remains strong for superlative objects with important provenances.”

Thirteen lots in the auction sold for six figures, and topping that list was an auction record-breaker: An Imperial Fabergé diamond set and enameled gold-mounted Bowenite egg-shaped frame, from a California private collection, brought $750,000 — the highest recorded price for a Fabergé picture frame. It contains an original photo of Empress Maria Feodorovna and predates 1896. Works in this collection had made their way to California via Prince Vasili Romanoff; the young prince Vasili, his mother Grand Duchess Ksenia, the Dowager Empress, and many Fabergé treasures had traveled from Crimea to safety abroad.

In fact, the outstanding works from the studios of the Russian goldsmith and jeweler Carl Fabergé that were once owned by the storied Romanoff family provided a foundation for this auction. Imperial Fabergé from several collections made up eight of the top ten lots in the event, among them this Fabergé diamond and champlevé enameled gold-mounted purpurin elephant once owned by Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, which sold for $312,500; this Fabergé two-color gold and opalescent pink guilloché enameled diamond-shaped clock that belonged to the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna which sold for $300,000; this Empress-owned Fabergé gold-mounted hardstone cockerel which also brought $300,000; and this Fabergé Feodor Rückert cloisonné and En Plein enameled gilt silver box owned by Empress which sold for $250,000.

The second highest-priced object in the May 17 auction came from the Nelkin Collection and broke from Fabergé for an exciting round of bidding. “It was the greatest pleasure for me as a specialist,” says Nicholson, “to rediscover the Imperial Lampada designed by Feodor Solntsev for the Chudov Monastery at the Kremlin and watch it reach a historic price of $475,000.” The Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich had commissioned the lampada to commemorate the recovery of the Tsesarevna and her son the Grand Duke in a period of family ill health and grieving; it was to be placed before the tomb of the young Grand Duke's patron, Saint Metropolitan Alexis of Moscow, whose relics had been venerated within the Church of Saint Alexius built within the Chudov Monastery of the Kremlin since 1485. Confiscated by the Soviets and sold abroad, it has not been seen in public since 1980.

The Nelkin Collection indeed provided many highlights for the live auction. A Feodor Rückert En Plein and cloisonné enameled gilt silver casket from the collection sold for $212,500; acquired by Ruth Nelkin in 1978, its image, from Konstantin Makovsky's famous 1883 work, A Boyar Wedding Feast in the Seventeenth Century, was popular in Russia as it conjured a romantic ideal of pre-Petrine Russia. Andit was an extremely strong day for Russian Imperial porcelain from the Nelkin Collection, with a pair of Nicholas II period figures, Finnish Man & Finnish Woman from the Peoples of Russia series selling for $112,500.

“The Nelkin collection was ‘white glove’ with every lot offered sold,” says Nicholson. “We were honored to be chosen by the estate of Ruth S. Nelkin to offer her superlative collection, with important prices set for her works by enameler Feodor Rückert, a cloisonne vase for the Fabergé firm which reached $93,750 and the exceptional box with an image of A Boyar Wedding. We look forward to offering Ruth Nelkin’s important collection of Japanese prints this fall, as well as another selection of Russian works in December.”

Among the collections offered was that of the Estate of Princess Maria Romanoff and included Russian paintings, icons, porcelain, furniture and Romanoff family archival materials. Born Princess Maria Immacolata Valguarnera di Niscemi, Princess Maria, or “Mimi” as she was known, married Prince Alexander Nikitich Romanoff, the son of HH Prince Nikita Alexandrovich of Russia and his wife, the former Countess Maria Illarionovna Woronzoff-Dashkoff. “The couple became one of the most socially prominent in New York,” says Nicholson. “Prince and Princess Alexander were well known as serious collectors. The estate is a testament to the power of works at auction which belonged to the Imperial family.”

High points from the estate included a Fabergé champlevé enameled silver paper knife ordered by Emperor Nicholas Ii for his brother-in-law Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich which fetched $30,000, and an Ovchinnikov baptismal icon of Prince Nikita of Russia which sold for $36,250. And institutional interest was very strong for archival pieces from the collection. “We are pleased to note that the unpublished 1917 diaries of Prince Nikita of Russia, which sold for $21,250, were acquired by the Romanoff Center for Russian Studies at the University of Oklahoma,” says Nicholson.

He adds, “Heritage Auctions is thrilled with the results of our inaugural Imperial Faberge & Russian Works of Art sale, which totaled over $5.69 million, more than double the high estimate. It is a testament to the strength of the U.S. market for exceptional works by Fabergé and the Russian decorative arts.”