Cleveland Museum of Art

Miniature Chair

House of Fabergé

Date

1896–1906

Medium

gold, silver gilt, enamel, rubies, diamonds

Culture

Russia, St. Petersburg

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The giving of small precious objects as intimate gifts between family members within the imperial court was spurred by the House of Fabergé's seemingly endless supply of bejeweled utilitarian objects decorated as expensively as possible, such as this stamp holder disguised as an exquisite miniature chair in the Louis XVI taste of the late 1700s. This miniature chair has a clever mechanism that allows the seat cushion to slide forward and upward slightly so that it can be opened to reveal a compartment, probably used to hold stamps on a desk.

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