Bulldog

c. 1895–1915

Bulldog, c. 1895–1915. House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918). Amethystine quartz, diamonds; overall: 4.4 x 5.1 x 3.5 cm (1 3/4 x 2 x 1 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.450 In creating luxurious accessories for a desk or tabletop, the House of Fabergé often used native hardstones such as multicolored agate and jasper, green nephrite, pink rhodonite, quartz, and rock crystal found in the Ural Mountains of western Russia. By paying careful attention to the unique colors and textures of the stones, Fabergé and his craftsmen brought them to life, turning smoky quartz into this figure of a seated bulldog, for example. The use of native materials also promoted Russian nationalism, which appealed greatly to the tsar and his family. Fabergé's lapidaries carefully chose the stones to resemble the color and texture of the figure they were sculpting. The smoky quartz used for this bulldog was polished to resemble his dark shiny coat.