Sculpted originally for Queen Alexandra of England, this was one of three Rhinoceros done by Faberge for the Royal Collection. This particular figure was done in green Aventurine, a stone found in the Ural Mountains of Russia, and the eyes are diamonds set in gold bezels.

The Rhino is done in enormous detail with the model showing all of what I shall call "the armament" that makes up a Rhinoceros' body covering. Looking at it, it is almost as though the skin of the animal consisted of individual plates that covered the animals body, as though they were meant by the Creator to act as armament. In fact, of course, it is all animal hide, very tough, thick and heavy.  If you look closely you can see that the the legs come out from underneath these "armament" plates. This fellow has two rather large and lethal looking horns rising from his muzzle.

A bit of research tells me that the Rhino hails from India as well as parts of Asia and that would explain his being part of the Queen's Collection. They are large animals, normally in excess of 8 feet from head to tail and are hairless except for tufts at the ears and end of the tail. They are not social animals and spend their time alone for the most part. They are very agile and move with great speed, when necessary more than 30 miles an hour. Just some trivia I thought might interest you.

The figure is 5 5/8 inches long.
Our price: $1200.00.