Referencing the initial post and Reply # 1: I knew of the sapphire Venus, as I believe Felix, Jr. had referred to it in some of his writings, but I had not heard of the ruby Buddha of Felix Sr. , thus I cannot comment intelligently on it. However, I CAN speak of the item to which "ashdean" refers: The carving mounted on the circular box at Hillwood Museum is neither a Buddha nor a ruby. The carving is that of a recumbent lion and is a SPINEL. ( Spinels are often mistaken for rubies, hence the famous "Black Prince's Ruby" adorning the Imperial State Crown in the Tower of London is really a spinel, though the small hole in it may have a later tiny ruby plug----I'm not certain. ) The box was displayed at the exhibition, "Faberge in America," in 1996 at the Virginia (USA) Museum of Fine Arts, where I had the opportunity to see it twice. I will quote from the catalogue of the same name, ISBN 0-88401-087-2, 1996: Page #181, Item # 162: "Purchased from the Yusupov collection at Cartier in 1926, the box is a composite. The lid is composed of a lion carved from a spinel, surrounded by an irregular circle of emeralds and large, crudely cut diamonds. The lion is most likely a Mogul piece of jewelry, possibly a family heirloom, which Perkhin mounted onto an amethyst quartz base. The box was probably made for Felix Sumarokov-Elston." Of course, by marriage, he was granted/took the name "Yusupov," and as we know, was the father of the famous/infamous Felix, Jr. AP
