A Russian Cloisonné and En Plein Enameled Gilt Silver Cigarette Case Fabergé, Attributed to Feodor Rückert, Moscow, 1908-1917, with scratched inventory number 35939 4-1/8 x 3-1/4 x 0-5/8 inches (10.5 x 8.3 x 1.6 cm) 218 grams PROVENANCE: Jackson's Auction, Cedar Falls, November 15, 2011, lot 235; John Atzbach Antiques, Bellevue, Washington, acquired from the above; Acquired from the above by the current owner. The image of the 17th Century falconer, or sokol'nik was a popular one at the turn of the century, hearkening back to the earliest period of Romanov rule in Russia. While many images of sokol'niki were from Ruckert's imagination, the offered lot's image in en plein enamel is taken directly from an original watercolor "Falconer on Horseback in the Time of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich" signed by F. [rants] A.[lekseievich] Rubo (Francois Roubaud) and dated 1897. Roubaud was a French-born Russian academician known for his panoramic historical paintings, and this work was lithographically reproduced in volume two (1898) of the important four-volume work by Nikolai Kutepov, Grand Ducal, Royal, and Imperial Hunting in Russia (Velikoknyazheskaya, tsarskaia I imperatorskaia okhota na Rusi), where it may have come to Rückert's attention. For a kovsh with a near consecutive inventory no. 35937 see Sotheby's Geneva, November 15, 2022, lot 1333. Heritage Auctions is grateful to Anna and Vincent Palmade for their assistance with research on this lot. Masterpieces of Russian Enamel from an Important American Collection HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved