In the late 19th century, to have an elephant figurine in one's collection meant belonging to the royal family, as only the jeweller of the Imperial Hermitage, Karl Fabergé, produced them at the time. During the Soviet era, animal figurines were seen as nothing more than a manifestation of bourgeoisie and bad taste.
Exotic mammals have for centuries been regarded in many countries as sacred symbols of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and as emblems of royalty. It was Carl Fabergé who introduced the fashion for depicting such unusual animals in Russia. Having already received the title of supplier to the Imperial Court, he tried in every way to surprise not only Emperor Alexander III, but also his wife Maria Feodorovna, for whom, in addition to the annual Easter eggs, he invented all sorts of rarities. Wishing to please the Empress, the jeweller created elephant trinkets to remind her of her homeland. She was of Danish royal lineage and the main state honour of the northern country was the Order of the Elephant, a white animal adorned with gemstones.
The interest in the statuettes instantly took hold of other members of the Romanov family as well. Sophia Nikolaevna Mehrenberg, who married the Countess de Torbi and was the wife of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, was a passionate collector of elephants. Her union with her grandson, Nicholas I, was never officially recognised in Russia due to their unequal social status. When Mikhail's mother Princess Olga Feodorovna learned of the wedding, she suffered a stroke and died. Emperor Alexander III, angered by the willfulness of his cousin, forbade the Grand Duke to stay in his homeland, struck him off the family list, deprived him of his allowance and dismissed him from service. The only relics of the countess's belonging to the imperial family were numerous statuettes of elephants. Perhaps the animals really brought lucky Sophia Nikolayevna, ten years later Nicholas II allowed to recognize the union of the couple as legal, though with the stipulation that neither she nor her children could belong to the House of Romanov.
Another grandson of Nicholas I, Konstantin Konstantinovich, who was creative and known in literary circles under the pseudonym of C.R., tried to awaken his wife's interest in art and revive their frosty relationship with the help of elephant figurines. The German princess Elisabeth was a down-to-earth woman, who found it difficult to support her husband's reflections on the meaning of life, to appreciate his translations and newly composed stories. Despite regular gifts in the form of expensive elephants, Konstantin never managed to establish a happy family life. Oppressed by the intellectual abyss with his wife, the prince became increasingly involved with men, and Elisabeth had no choice but to devote herself to raising her nine children.
Elephants were also believed to be lucky in the post-revolutionary years. Porcelain and marble figurines of animals on the chest of drawers were an essential element of the interior of any self-respecting Soviet flat. Until, in the early 1970s, they were proclaimed a symbol of bourgeoisie and hoarding, along with lampshades, ficuses in tubs and canaries.
These days, figurines that were once in the collections of the Romanov duchesses are breaking records in value. In 2021, one of the most expensive lots in the "Russian Week" auction series in London, which brings together Europe's leading auction houses, was a statuette of an elephant belonging to the Countess de Torby. The piece was made of obsidian and decorated with gold, precious stones and enamel, and its value was estimated at a hundred thousand dollars
You can see the elephant from Elisabeth's collection in the Mining Museum in St. Petersburg. The grey jasper figurine made of Kalkan jasper with diamond eyes is an exhibit in a rare collection of works by the jewellery firm of Carl Fabergé.
Translated by Diego Monterrey, for Northwest Forpost.
