Russian Imperial-era Nephrite Gold Egg Cufflinks by Fabergé Workmaster Erik Kollin

This stunning pair of cufflinks was designed by Carl Fabergé’s first workmaster, Erik Kollin in St. Petersburg, Russia. Each link terminates with a perfectly carved egg of nephrite, Fabergé’s favorite hardstone, and is fitted with a fluted gold cap which is attached to a hand fashioned gold link chain ending in a cylindrical gold bar.

St. Petersburg, circa 1890 with maker’s initials EK marked in four places, with scratched illegible inventory number

In a period blue leather gilded fitted box stamped with Swedish Crown Jeweler CF Carlman, Stockholm.

*SOLD*

SKU: GJ070

Drag to view more product photos

Additional Product Details

Finnish-born Eric August Kollin (1836 to 1901) opened a jewelry workshop on Kazanskaya Street in St. Petersburg before joining the House of Fabergé in 1870 and becoming its first Chief Workmaster. Kollin was best known for his simplicity of design and gold workmanship in the revivalist style. His most famous creations were gold replicas of Scythian treasures following the sensational discovery of ancient gold jewels in 1867 in the Kerch peninsula east of Crimea.

It was Erik Kollin’s cicada-shaped gold cufflinks, crafted in the Etruscan style, that first drew Tsar Alexander III to Carl Fabergé’s booth at Moscow’s Pan-Russian Exhibition of 1882. Unbeknownst to Fabergé, this initial purchase would spark a remarkable series of imperial commissions—first from the tsar and later from his son, Nicholas II—for fifty legendary Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs.

In many ways, Fabergé owed this pivotal introduction to Kollin, whose craftsmanship first captured the tsar’s attention.

On Easter Sunday in 1902, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia presented her husband, Tsar Nicholas II, with a pair of egg-shaped cufflinks crafted by Kollin. Nicholas later rendered the cufflinks in gouache and recorded them in his personal journal (see image). For further reference, see The Jewel Album of Tsar Nicholas II, London, 1997, no. 233.

Egg-shaped cufflinks like those featured here are rare; Kollin seemed to be the only master jeweler in St. Petersburg to create them for the Imperial Russian goldsmith.

In 1991, Marie Betteley sold a pair of Fabergé bowenite egg cufflinks by Kollin. Today, 35 years later, she is thrilled to be offering this pair.

For more information see Fabergé in Perspective in Beyond Fabergé: Imperial Russian Jewelry by Marie Betteley and David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Schiffer Publishing, 2020.

This is my second purchase from the seller and, again, I can say it was a marvelous experience. The seller is highly knowledgeable, carries quality items, and is very willing to share her knowledge about the item you buy and also generalities about the times items are from. A very satisfying experience for me and highly recommended.

-George