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| Bleeding Heart circa 1900 Acquired by Queen Mary in 1934 Crown Copyright The Royal Collection Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II |
Another of Queen Mary’s important collection of works by the House of Fabergé, this little sculpture of rock crystal, gold, nephrite, rhodonite, and quartzite was made around 1900 and is considered one of the finest of the Fabergé treasures in The Royal Collection.
Queen Mary acquired this study of “bleeding hearts” (a flowering plant which produces elegant arching sprays of heart-shaped red and/or white blooms) in 1934. The sculpture shows a double spray of the flowers, carved in rhodonite and quartzite. Three sets of delicately-carved nephrite leaves spring from green quartzite stalks. A vase of rock crystal serves as the base. To emulate the true nature of the flowers, the blooms are suspended on gold stems, articulated en tremblant so that they can move when the piece is touched, as if they were blown by the wind.
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| Crown Copyright The Royal Collection Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II |
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