Statuette of Persimmon 1908
Silver, nephrite | 24.3 x 31.2 x 9.6 cm (whole object) | RCIN 32392
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A portrait model of Persimmon, Edward VII's racehorse, modelled in silver and mounted on a rectangular green nephrite base with an engraved silver plaque inscribed 'PERSIMMON 1908'.
Persimmon was King Edward VII's most successful racehorse. He was the winner of the Derby and St Leger in 1896 and of the Ascot Gold Cup and Eclipse Stakes in 1897. His is one of the only two of the Sandringham animal models made in silver. The model was made by Boris Frödman-Cluzel and the statuette by Henrik Wigström in 1908. Frödman-Cluzel was fascinated by the horse as a breed, and in his letters from June 1907 to his friend Olga Bazankur he refers to his work for the Pavlovsky Guards Regiment: 'I was to sculpt an equestrian statuette and they [the regiment] have offered me a marvellous model in one of the cavalry regiments'. King Edward VII purchased the model of Persimmon from the London branch in November 1908 at a cost of £135. A month later, on the 21 December, the King bought six bronze copies of the model at a cost of £63. These were clearly designed to be given away as mementoes, perhaps to the trainers and others who had contributed to the horse's remarkable success. One example is now in the Hodges family collection in New Orleans. The idea of immortalising racehorses in Fabergé's metalwork or silver caught on - Leopold de Rothschild's St Frusquin, which Persimmon had beaten into second place at the Derby, was also modelled in silver by Fabergé (purchased by Mrs Leopold de Rothschild in December 1912) and two bronze copies were ordered through the London branch in December 1913 at a cost of £15 each. This silver statuette of Persimmon was modelled right at the end of the horse's life; on 10 January 1908 he slipped and broke his pelvis, and he died on 18 February. The Prince of Wales, later King George V, described the event in his diary: 'Poor Persimmon died at Sandringham on Tuesday, a terrible loss, one of the finest horses in the world.'
Mark of Henrik Wigström; silver mark of 91 zolotniks (1908-17); FABERGÉ in Roman letters; English import marks for 1908
Text adapted from Fabergé's Animals: A Royal Farm in MiniatureProvenance
Commissioned and bought by King Edward VII from Fabergé's London branch, November 1908 (£135)
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Creator(s)
(jeweller)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Silver, nephrite
Measurements
24.3 x 31.2 x 9.6 cm (whole object)
Category
Object type(s)
Place of Production
St Petersburg [Russia]