A Russian Transparent Pale Blue Guilloché Enameled Gold Etui-Form Cigarette Case Fabergé, Workmaster Mikhail Perkhin, St. Petersburg, 1899-1903, with scratched inventory number 17265 3-3/4 x 2-1/2 x 0-3/4 inches (9.5 x 6.3 x 1.9 cm) 146 grams PROVENANCE: William Hugh Holbech, acquired from Fabergé London on November 6th, 1908 for 17 pounds, 10 pence, thence likely by descent; Private Collection, Chicago; John Atzbach Antiques, Bellevue, Washington, acquired from the above; Acquired from the above by the present owner. The ledgers for Fabergé's London shop indicate that a pale blue cigarette case was purchased on 6 November 1908 by prominent cricketer William Hugh Holbech (1882-1914), a member of an old Warwickshire family and a close friend of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich and his wife Countess Sophie de Torby. Lawn tennis champion Anthony Wilding recalled Holbech's participation in the tennis championships organized at Kenwood, Grand Duke Michael's estate outside London. (See Anthony F. Wilding, On the Court and Off, New York: Doubleday, 1912, pp. 159-160) Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, he served in the Scots Guards from 1902 to 1907. Holbech played cricket at Sandhurst and at the Household Brigade Cricket Club before joining the reserve forces in 1907. He distinguished himself at the Marylebone Cricket Club and at Warwickshire. When war broke out in August 1914, Holbech rejoined the Scottish Guards. His battalion fought at the First Battle of Yprès in October 1914 and he was severely wounded on October 25. Although he returned to Greenwich for treatment, he expired of his wounds on 1 November. Lt. Holbech was remembered in a lavish funeral at the family seat at Farnborough and tributes included the words of his commanding officer, Maj. Cator, who wrote: "He defended his trench all night at Kruseik when the Germans got through our line. He and Capt. Paynter had the Germans all round them and defended their trenches most gallantly—I only wish I could tell you more; in him we have lost a gallant soldier and a great friend." On Holbech's career as a cricketer, see Nigel McCrery, Final Wicket: Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War (Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2015), pp. 30-31. Masterpieces of Russian Enamel from an Important American Collection HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved