The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Miniature Bathroom Chair (Bidet)

Miniature Bathroom Chair (Bidet)

1908–17
(Russian, 1862–1923)
(Russian, 1842–1918)
Overall: 8.3 x 3.5 x 4.5 cm (3 1/4 x 1 3/8 x 1 3/4 in.)
Location: 211 Fabergé

Did You Know?

The seat of this miniature bathroom chair cleverly opens to reveal a small compartment probably containing a damp sponge or ball of cotton to moisten stamps on a desk.

Description

The giving of small precious objects as intimate gifts between family members within the imperial court was spurred by the House of Fabergé's seemingly endless supply of bejeweled utilitarian objects decorated as expensively as possible, such as this stamp moistener disguising as an exquisite miniature bathroom chair (bidet) in the Louis XVI taste of the late 1700s.
  • King Farouk of Egypt; (Sotheby's, Cairo, March 10, 1954, no. 126, for £66)
    ?-1966
    India Early Minshall [1885–1965], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1966-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Hawley, Henry H. Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 32-3, cat. 12 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 171 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 227 archive.org
    Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996. Mentioned: p. 96; p. 113, cat. 97; reproduced: p. 113 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
    Hawley, Henry H., "Some Faberge Sources", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 37 no. 04, April 1997 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 6 archive.org
    Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, and Jeannine J. Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Mentioned: p. 199, cat. 74. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
    Tillander-Godenhielm, Ulla, and Peter Carl Fabergé. Fabergé: ja hänen suomalaiset mestarinsa. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Tammi, 2008. Mentioned: p. 50. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
  • Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2008-January 18, 2009); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 7-May 31, 2009).
    Fabergé in America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (February 12-May 5, 1996); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (organizer) (May 25-July 28, 1996); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (August 24-November 2, 1996); New Orleans Museum of Art (December 7, 1996-February 8, 1997); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-May 11, 1997).
    Faberge, Imperial Jeweler. St. George Hall of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (June 18-August 15, 1993); Musée des arts Décoratifs, Paris, France (September 24, 1993-January 2, 1994); Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (January 26-April 10, 1994).
    Faberge 1846 - 1920. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (June 23-October 23, 1977).
    Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).
    The India Early Minshall Collection: Faberge and his Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 15, 1967-January 21, 1968).
  • {{cite web|title=Miniature Bathroom Chair (Bidet)|url=false|author=Henrik Wigström, House of Fabergé|year=1908–17|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.455