A desk seal in the Archaeological taste
by Carl Fabergé,

with arched matt yellow gold handle of tapering circular cross section,
with ribbed sides, the revolving seal stone a rectangular carnelian
engraved on one side with a coat of arms and on the other with
an opened padlock and the date '20th March 1895' in Cyrillic.

Chief Workmaster Erik Kollin,
St Petersburg, circa 1895,
inventory number: 50037.

Height:  5 cm

Exhibited:
Fabergé, at the Kunsthalle of the Hypo-Kulturstiftung,
Munich, 1986-1987, number 98.

Kollin made a number of pieces in the archaeological revivalist taste. Many were inspired by the Scythian
treasures unearthed in the Crimea and made under the auspices of Count Sergei Stroganov, President of
the archaeological society in St. Petersburg. Such pieces were first shown in the Pan Russian exhibition
of 1882 and Faberge was awarded its first international gold medal for its
archaeological works in the Nuremberg Fair of 1885.