The workmaster Rappoport was also responsible for these nephrite candlesticks with silver mounts in the baroque style. Nephrite was one of the hardstones used most often by Fabergé. It was found in gigantic boulders near Lake Baikal in Siberia and the Sayan Highlands along the River Onat in the eastern part of the Altai Mountains on the border of Mongolia. The boulders could only be moved in winter on frozen ground and were carried on horsedrawn sledges across the tundra to St Petersburg, where they would be cut open to reveal the stone, which when cut into thin sheets reveals its rich colour and translucency. These candlesticks were acquired by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at an unrecorded date.

Mark of Julius Rappoport; silver mark of 88 and 84 zolotniks (before 1896); Fabergé in Cyrillic characters

Text adapted from Fabergé in the Royal Collection