Question about Faberge badge

[totheboss]

Hello everyone,

I resently added this badge to my collection and found it to have the Faberge mark on it, can anyone confirm that they made items like this.
The badge is the Land Reform Campaign Badge awarded in May of 1913.


It has a number etched on it that looks like 5591, hope you experts can help.

Kind greetings to ALL
Alex

[georgecl]

Hi Alex,

What a beauty

These badge for land reform are quite rare..
It would not surprise me with your grandfathers status that  he did not opt to have a faberge made piece.

I think I have only seen 3 in photos of other peoples collections and these were all faberge as well..

So few of these were made It could be that Faberge was the only maker..

Just producing molds and production of enamelled pieces would make other firms refer clients to faberge because they seem to be already tooled..

Did you get the screw back plate and wing nut as well..?

Thanks
for posting

George

[totheboss]

Hi Goerge,

Thanks for the reply and the info, I haven't seen any Badges with a Faberge mark before so didn't know if it was correct.
And as to your question yes I do have the backing plate and wing nut as well.

Kind regards
Alex

[georgecl]

Hi Alex,

i cant see the artist letters so heres a copy out of my silver hallmarks book..
Maybe you can ID the silversmith..

George

[totheboss]

Hi again George,

Where would this forum be without members like you, "thanks very much" I can now see that it is all correct and that the silversmith for my badge was A.T. (A. Thielemann)

Thanks again for all your help.

Cheers
Alex

[David_Pritchard]

[size=14]The workmaster who crafted the badge appears to be A. Thielemann (A T). A wonderful badge that seems from the photograph to be absolutely authentic. It is good to see a real and correct piece of Fabergé appear on this thread.

Unfortunately there are many fakes for sale around the world. I have owned five good but uninteresting pieces over the years and one beautiful fake made of silver and nephrite. One must be very careful when purchasing Fabergé marked items.

David[/size]

[totheboss]

Thanks David,

I purchased the badge sight un-seen, I was only after the badge and when it arrived in the post and I saw the marks on the back I couldn't believe want I was seeing  
That's why I posted my question, didn't know Faberge made badges.

Thanks again for the info

Kind regards
Alex

[Bolin]

A. Thielmann was known to specialize in badges and jetons at the Faberge firm. Are you aware that this very badge was part of the exhibit FABERGE -IMPERIAL CRAFTSMAN AND HIS WORLD back in the year 2000 in Wilmington, Delaware? It is Catalog #753. I am assuming it is the same badge though there were probably several copies made by Thielmann. I find it strange that whoever sold you this did not mention that it or one exactly like it had been displayed at this exhibition and illustrated in the accompanying catalog.

[totheboss]

Thank you Bolin,

This badge is quite rare and I have being try to find one for my collection for so many years, I recently missed out at the New York auction for one that was a liitle less worse for ware so when I was offered this badge I didn't ask who the maker was (as I only after the bade not the maker) and as I was happy with the priced asked, and that the gentleman selling was recommended to me by a fine gentleman in this forum, I did not hesitate in buying it.
Living here in Australia makes in hard try to collect Imperial Russian items as we do have many Russians that came to Australia after the Revolution so I have to get me items from overseas this badge came to me from Germany.
Thank you for telling me about A. Thielmann and I wish I could have seen the Faberge exhibition did you see it? and if you did what did you think?? also do you have the catalog and illustration of the badge if so is it possible for you to scan and post the page in this forum?
Thanks again and Greetings from Australia
Alex

[Bolin]

Alex, yes I did see the exhibition and have a copy of the catalog with the badge illustrated. The illustration is just of the front half. I cannot scan it for you but will give you a copy of the description:
"753 ENAMELED SILVER COMMEMORATIVE BADGE shaped as a Maltese cross with central cipher of Tsar Nicholas II on green guilloche enamel ground, inscribed and dated "Commemorating the 50th Avviversary of the Land Reform 19 February 1861-29,March 1911, 1906 - signed Faberge, initials of workmaster Alfred Thielmann, 1908-1917, height 2 1/8 inches (5.4cm)
Bibliography: S.B. Patrikyeev & A.D. Boynovich, "Badges of Russia". Farn Moscow/St. Petersburg 1995 p. 332, no.12.6 (another example). Private Collection"

As I said Thielmann specialized in small pieces of jewelry (tie pins, miniature eggs, small brooches, etc.) and badges. Perhaps the making of these specific badges was an Imperial commission? The Faberge firm could have been contracted to make all of the badges. Or, the situation could have been that an individual who was awarded the badge wanted a little finer one and commissioned the Faberge shop to make one? If you say that this badge is rare, do you know about how many were awarded? If it were a small number then the Faberge firm could have been awarded the commission to make these. If there were 500 or 1,000 produced I doubt if the Faberge firm would have been awarded the commission as the cost would have been prohibitive to the Imperial Court and the Court would have awarded the commission to a silver workshop that did this type of work more frequently and on a larger scale. Faberge produced this kind of thing in smaller numbers with high quality materials and hence the price would be higher.
It is quite a treasure.

[totheboss]

Hi Bolin,

Thanks for all the information, but the real treasure is that I have this photo of my G/Grandfather wearing the badge.
 
Cheers
Alex

[Bolin]

Alex,
The picture is wonderful. Who is the young boy seated?
Do you collect only Russian pre-revolutionary badges?

[totheboss]

Hello again Bolin,

The young man seated is my grandfarther and I have only collected the awards, medals and badge that were awarded to them up to the end of the Russian Civil war, I'm not a collector but more a family historian and considering that I had there service records I thought I see if I could collect as many as I could and am happy to say I got the lot after getting the Land Reform Badge, that was the only one I had trouble getting.
Thanks again
Alex