Fabergé’s hardstone zoo was particularly popular in the Russian and British royal palaces. Among the belongings of the Empress Maria Feodorovna, evacuated by the interim government to Moscow, were nearly a hundred figurines of insects, birds and mammals, among them dogs – bulldogs and pugs – that were allegories of love and loyalty. Her husband, the Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (later Emperor Alexander III), was nicknamed “Bulldog” in his youth.
Many of these animal objects had a certain functional character. Table clocks, bells, guillotine cigar cutters and table lighters were often decorated with animal figurines or were made to look like a certain animal. This majestic, imposing jasper bulldog head with diamond eyes, nostrils and teeth is no exception – turning it upside down reveals a perfectly harmless receptacle for candy.