Parrot on a Perch

maker House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918)

workmaster Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin (Russian, 1860–1903)

1896–1903

Medium
silver, enamel, jasper, agate, emeralds
Classification
Miscellaneous
Dimensions
Overall: 15.3 x 7.4 cm (6 x 2 15/16 in.)
Culture
Russia, St. Petersburg
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Decorative Art and Design
Credit line
The India Early Minshall Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

In creating luxurious accessories for a desk or tabletop, Fabergé often used native hardstones such as multicolored agate and jasper, green nephrite, pink rhodonite, 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 milky agate into a begging poodle or green and black jasper into this parrot sitting on a perch. The use of native materials also promoted Russian nationalism, which appealed greatly to the tsar and his family.