Auction Name: 2025 December 17 Imperial Fabergé & Russian Works of Art Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 69022

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/8232*69022

Princess Irina of Russia, Princess Yusupova: An Imperial Fabergé Gem-Set and Silver Gilt Mounted Maple Bell Push
Fabergé, Workmaster Michael Perchin, St. Petersburg, 1899-1903, with scratched inventory number 4617
1-1/4 x 2 inches (3.2 x 5.1 cm)
38 grams

PROVENANCE:
Princess Irina of Russia, later Princess Yusupova, Countess Sumarokova-Elston;
Dr. Nicolas Nikolaievich Tararine (1916-2006), Paris, a gift from the above;
Acquired from the above by the current owner.


This beautiful turned maple bellpush with neoclassical gilt silver mounts and a cabochon ruby push comes from the Fabergé workrooms under the direction of Michael Perchin. The bell push belonged to HH Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, later Princess Yusupova and Countess Sumarokova-Elston. It may have been a gift to the princess from her husband, or perhaps an inheritance from her grandmother the Dowager Empress, her mother Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, or her mother-in-law Princess Zinaida Yusupova. The push dates before 1903, and Irina Alexandrovna didn't marry until 1914, so it likely came to her from someone who owned it slightly earlier. Recent research indicates that the previous inventory number, 4616, is also recorded as being a bell push.

According to family record, the bellpush was given as a gift by Princess Irina Alexandrovna to Dr. Nicolas Tararine, one of Prince Felix Yusupov's doctors, after Prince Yusupov's death in 1967. It was acquired by the current owner directly from Dr. Tararine. Dr. Tararine was well-known within the Russian émigré circles as a physician and medical researcher. He is buried in the Russian cemetery in the Cimetière russe de Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois outside Paris.

Heritage Auctions is grateful to Anna and Vincent Palmade for their assistance in the research of this lot.


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