314 - Elegant tea service by Julius Rappoport for C. Fabergé Silver. 6-piece set: teapot, hot water kettle on a rechaud, sugar bowl, lidded box, and cookie dish. Round base with a flared foot; the body is largely hemispherical with smooth walls. The tea warmer features two fully sculpted, winged sirens on corresponding paw-shaped feet, accompanied by snakes winding upward to serve as a suspension for the hot water kettle. The feet and rims are bordered with finely relief-carved lancet-leaf borders, narrow tongue friezes, or corded bands. The side-hinged lids are slightly domed in the center and crowned with laurel wreaths between sculpted ram’s heads. The low-set, curved spout is accentuated by profiled rings and palmettes; the handles feature corresponding decoration of ram’s heads and applied acanthus leaves, as well as angularly worked ivory. Partially gilded on the inside. Partially minimal damage/wear; dated 88, inspection mark, maker’s mark, master craftsman Julius A. Rappoport (in St. Petersburg since 1883). Total weight approx. 5,730 g (without warmer and weighted base: 4,395 g). H. 2.5 cm – 33 cm.

Elegant tea service by Julius Rappoport for C. Fabergé Silver. 6-piece set: teapot, hot water kettle on a rechaud, sugar bowl, lidded box, and cookie dish. Round base with a flared foot; the body is largely hemispherical with smooth walls. The tea warmer features two fully sculpted, winged sirens on corresponding paw-shaped feet, accompanied by snakes winding upward to serve as a suspension for the hot water kettle. The feet and rims are bordered with finely relief-carved lancet-leaf borders, narrow tongue friezes, or corded bands. The side-hinged lids are slightly domed in the center and crowned with laurel wreaths between sculpted ram’s heads. The low-set, curved spout is accentuated by profiled rings and palmettes; the handles feature corresponding decoration of ram’s heads and applied acanthus leaves, as well as angularly worked ivory. Partially gilded on the inside. Partially minimal damage/wear; dated 88, inspection mark, maker’s mark, master craftsman Julius A. Rappoport (in St. Petersburg since 1883). Total weight approx. 5,730 g (without warmer and weighted base: 4,395 g). H. 2.5 cm – 33 cm. Julius A. Rappoport, who trained in Berlin, quickly rose to become one of the four chief master craftsmen at the Carl Fabergé company. He specialized in tableware, decorative objects, and animal models. His designs combine a powerful formal language with exquisite silversmithing. Rappoport also crafted small pieces of furniture with silver mountings for the Tsar’s court, which Tsar Nicholas presented to his wife on the second anniversary of their engagement and as a Christmas gift in 1898. Objects designed by Rappoport are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. A CITES certificate is available. We thank Mr. Alexander von Solodkoff for his expert appraisal of this service. See cat. Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung/Bavarian National Museum, Munich, *Fabergé*, p. 330; Goldberg, nos. 1266, 1313 ff.; Fabergé - Cartier: Rivals at the Tsar’s Court, Munich 2003, p. 289, nos. 473, 473. A rare 6-piece Russian silver Empire-style tea set by Julius A. Rappoport (active in St. Petersburg since 1883) for Karl Fabergé, including a teapot, a hot-water kettle on a rechaud, a tea strainer, a sugar box, and a sugar and candy bowl. Two ivory handles and an insulating ring. Partially gilt on the inside. Some minor chipping and restoration. Standard mark 88, assay mark, master’s mark, and maker’s mark. CITES certificate included. We thank Mr. Alexander von Solodkoff for examining this exceptional tea service. Russia. St. Petersburg. Karl Fabergé. Circa 1900.