An extremely rare Fabergé statuette recently discovered in an attic in Rhinebeck, NY sold for a record price of $5,980,000 on Saturday, October 26th at Stair Galleries in Hudson. The work, which was estimated to garner $500,000 to $800,000, sold to a phone bidder. The last hardstone figure to appear at auction sold for $1.8 million in 2005 at Sotheby’s, New York.
The work, which was believed to have been lost, is one of 50 sculptures in semiprecious stones and gold produced by the Fabergé workshop. The statuette was acquired by a collector from the dealer and industrialist Armand Hammer in the 1930s and re-emerged this summer complete with original receipts when a descendant’s estate was emptied. The work depicts Nikolai N. Pustynnikov, bodyguard to Empress Alexandra, the wife of Nikolai II, Russia’s last Tsar.
Wartski, the famed London-based jewelers, who serves the Queen of England, purchased the piece. They specialize in Russian pieces, most notably Fabergé. It’s not clear if they were purchasing it for stock or a private client.
