Alexander Kelch

Alexander Ferdinandovich Kelch was a Russian nobleman who lived in St Petersburg at the end of the nineteenth century. He is now known mainly as a patron of Fabergé, having commissioned seven eggs [1] for his wife Barbara.[2]

His wealth came from marrying his brother's widow Varvara Petrovna Bazanova, whose family had made a fortune in Siberian industry, particularly gold-mining. The Bazanov business empire collapsed after the Russo-Japanese War; the couple divorced in 1915, Varvara moving to Paris and Alexander remaining as a pauper in Russia; he was arrested and disappeared in Siberia in 1930.

References

  1. Hen (1898), Twelve Panel (1899), Pine Cone (1900), Apple Blossom (1901), Rocaille (1902), Bonbonnière (1903), and Chanticleer (1904).
  2. http://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/FA13-book-review-Snowflake-Iceberg-McFerrin-fabergea
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