A double bell push in the Japanese taste
by Carl Fabergé,

designed in the form of a crab, the segmented silver
body finely chased and engraved, the claws and legs
naturalistically articulated, the shell represented by
carved blue chalcedony, its protruding eyes serve
as the pushes and are set with cabochon
moonstones.

Chief Workmaster: Henrik Wigström,
St. Petersburg, London import marks
for 1911-1912.

12.3 cm across.

The bellpush is modelled on a Meiji bronze okimono.
Carl Fabergé collected Japanese works of art and found
inspiration in the exacting work of Japanese craftsmen.
Faberge silver in the Japanese taste was particularly
popular with the firm's English customers. This bell push
has been described as 'perhaps the most successful of
all Faberge's interpretations of Japanese works of art'.

See:
Fabergé and Japan, G. C Munn,
The Antique Collector, January 1987

Illustrated:
Carl Fabergé, Goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia,
A. Kenneth Snowman, (London, 1980), Page 44.