A gem set and enamelled neo- renaissance smoky
quartz cup by Carl Fabergé,

the single piece of smoky quartz named 'smokey topaz' by
Fabergé, carved in the form of a shell and supported on
a coiled snake, the gold mounts decorated with coloured
opaque enamels in the renaissance taste set with
eight old brilliant cut diamonds, on four
chased gold shell feet.

Chief Workmaster: Michael Perchin, St. Petersburg,
1896-1903, 72 zolotniks standard,
inventory number: 11952.

Provenance:

Acquired from Fabergé's London branch on the 9th July
1912 by Leopold de Rothschild for £75

The cup is the third in the 'Rothschild series' of Fabergé pieces
inspired by seventeenth and eighteenth century goldwork
and given by Leopold to his brother Alfred de Rothschild
as birthday gifts between 1909 and the outbreak of World
War I. Alfred kept the cup in the vitrine of the telephone
room of his London home at 1, Seamore Place.

See: The Rothschild Archive, Review of the year
April 2004 to March 2005, Fabergé and the Rothschilds.