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Jun 6, 2008

Dec 28, 2007

Jun 6, 2008

Miniature Bathroom Chair (Bidet)

1908–17

workmaster

Henrik Wigström

(Russian, 1862–1923)

maker

House of Fabergé

(Russian, 1842–1918)

Russia, Saint Petersburg

Gold, nephrite, enamel, pearls

Overall: 8.3 x 3.5 x 4.5 cm (3 1/4 x 1 3/8 x 1 3/4 in.)

The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.455

Location

211 Fabergé

Did you know?

The seat of this miniature bathroom chair cleverly opens to reveal a small compartment probably containing a damp sponge or ball of cotton to moisten stamps on a desk.

Description

The giving of small precious objects as intimate gifts between family members within the imperial court was spurred by the House of Fabergé's seemingly endless supply of bejeweled utilitarian objects decorated as expensively as possible, such as this stamp moistener disguising as an exquisite miniature bathroom chair (bidet) in the Louis XVI taste of the late 1700s.

Artist biography

Henrik Wigström

Workmaster for the House of Faberge based in St. Petersburg, Russia. Responsible for many of the imperial Easter eggs as well as enameled accessories and jewelry.

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

Kokoshnik, 72, lower case alpha; 72; H.W. [initials of worksmaster Henrik Wigström]; Fabergé; 25256 [scratched].

Provenance

King Farouk of Egypt; (Sotheby's, Cairo, March 10, 1954, no. 126, for £66)

?-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. 32-3, cat. 12 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 171 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 227 archive.org

Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996. Mentioned: p. 96; p. 113, cat. 97; reproduced: p. 113 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

Hawley, Henry H., "Some Faberge Sources", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 37 no. 04, April 1997 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 6 archive.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: p. 199, cat. 74. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

Tillander-Godenhielm, Ulla, and Peter Carl Fabergé. Fabergé: ja hänen suomalaiset mestarinsa. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Tammi, 2008. Mentioned: p. 50. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

Exhibition history

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

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

Faberge 1846 - 1920. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (June 23-October 23, 1977).

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, Cleveland, OH (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).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Miniature Bathroom Chair (Bidet)|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.455|author=Henrik Wigström|year=1908–17|access-date=26 September 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Miniature Bathroom Chair (Bidet)

Miniature Bathroom Chair (Bidet)

Henrik Wigström

House of Fabergé

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Description

Henrik Wigström

House of Fabergé

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