Standing tall on extremely long and knobby-kneed legs, this flightless bird was originally carved by order of King Edward VII for Queen Alexandra's Sandringham Collection in the early 1900's. It is hand carved from Peach Aventurine, has ruby eyes and those long legs are sterling silver plated in 24 karat gold. It stands 6.75 inches tall. The detail in the carving is astonishing. Every feather is distinctly delineated.

In the book "Faberge, The Royal Collection" by Caroline de Guitant who is assistant to the director of the Queen's Collection, Ms. de Guitant mentions that also in the collection is another flamingo made by Cartier. They seem to have been influenced by Fabergé and the work they were doing. In any case, she makes a comparison of the two pieces, "The Royal Collection contains an example which appears stylised and unnaturalistic by comparison with this skilfully executed model." It is interesting to me that a firm such as Cartier could not execute a hand carving as beautifully as could the carvers of Fabergé. Is it any wonder that Fabergé achieved such world wide renown?

Our price: $600.00.