id: 142773 accession number: 1966.477 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.477 updated: 2023-03-20 14:14:20.290000 Kremlin Tower Clock, c. 1913. House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918). Rhodonite, silver, enamel, emeralds, sapphires; overall: 29 x 14.6 cm (11 7/16 x 5 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.477 title: Kremlin Tower Clock title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1913 creation date earliest: 1912 creation date latest: 1913 current location: 211 Fabergé creditline: The India Early Minshall Collection copyright: --- culture: Russia, St. Petersburg, early 20th Century technique: rhodonite, silver, enamel, emeralds, sapphires department: Decorative Art and Design collection: Decorative Arts type: Timepiece find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918) - maker Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920) took over the House of Faberge in 1870 from his father Carl Gustav Faberge who had founded the firm in 1842. Until 1881, the firm manufactured primarily jewelry for Saint Petersburg's aristocrats and wealthy elite. In 1885 the firm was awarded the coveted imperial warrant as goldsmith to the tsar and began to produce elaborate presentation Easter eggs as a gift for the tsarina from her husband every year. They also produced luxurious accessories, jewelry, and hardstone sculptures. At one point, Faberge employed over 300 workers including 22 workmasters who oversaw the production of the firm's jewelry and precious objects. A branch of the firm opened in Moscow in 1887, specializing in neo-Russian and pan-Slavic motifs in jewelry, silver, and enamel. Other branches followed in Kiev, London, and Odessa as well as new premises in Saint Petersburg. At the onset of the Russian Revolution, Peter Carl Faberge fled the country to Paris then Switzerland, where he died in 1920. His firm was nationalized by the Bolsheviks in 1918. --- measurements: Overall: 29 x 14.6 cm (11 7/16 x 5 3/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: 84, Kokoshnik, delta [assay mark for Moscow, 1908-26]; 91, Kokoshnik; 91; Kokoshnik; C. Fabergé (in Cyrillic); double-headed eagle [imperial warrant]; 16419 k? scratched. translation: remark: inscription: Painted on clock face: Le Gruet (in script); strike, silence, set hand work (in English). translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The India Early Minshall Collection: Faberge and his Contemporaries opening date: 1967-03-15T05:00:00 The India Early Minshall Collection: Faberge and his Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 15, 1967-January 21, 1968). title: Year in Review: 1967 opening date: 1967-11-29T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967). title: Faberge, Imperial Jeweler opening date: 1993-06-16T04:00:00 Faberge, Imperial Jeweler. St. George Hall of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (June 18-August 15, 1993); Musée des arts Décoratifs, Paris, France (September 24, 1993-January 2, 1994); Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (January 26-April 10, 1994). title: Fabergé in America opening date: 1996-02-12T00:00:00 Fabergé in America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (February 12-May 5, 1996); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (organizer) (May 25-July 28, 1996); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (August 24-November 2, 1996); New Orleans Museum of Art (December 7, 1996-February 8, 1997); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-May 11, 1997). title: Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique opening date: 2008-10-19T04:00:00 Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2008-January 18, 2009); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 7-May 31, 2009). title: Fabergé: Romance to Revolution opening date: 2021-11-20T05:00:00 Fabergé: Romance to Revolution. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (November 20, 2021-May 8, 2022) https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/faberge. --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE India Early Minshall [1885–1965], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?-1966 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1966- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The Kremlin tower, which this clock resembles, has a secret well and an underground tunnel that leads to the Moscow River. digital description: The use of Russian hardstones in creating precious objects became a hallmark of design from the House of Fabergé. Easily carved, these minerals were sourced largely from the western region surrounding the Ural Mountains. Fabergé's workmasters used colorful stones such as agate, nephrite (jade), lapis lazuli, rock crystal, and rhodonite, seen here in this elaborate table or mantel clock, to create all manner of luxurious accessories. Bright pink rhodonite was among the rarest, and consequently most expensive, specimens used by the House of Fabergé.

This clock resembles the Taynitskaya Tower, the middle tower on the south side of the Kremlin. The House of Fabergé created this work to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, representing Fabergé's ability to balance the functionality of objects with intricate decorative design. wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Hawley, Henry H. Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 120-1, cat. 57 url: https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/836254532 Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 103, cat. 77 url: http://library.clevelandart.org/opac/?func=find-b&find_code=OCL&submit=Search&request=34433639 Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, and Jeannine J. Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. page number: Mentioned: pp. 152, 213, cat. 68 url: http://library.clevelandart.org/opac/?func=find-b&find_code=OCL&submit=Search&request=230187932 Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 146 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.477/1966.477_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.477/1966.477_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.477/1966.477_full.tif