The most important client of Fabergé’s London branch, both for purchasing and commissioning items, was Baron Leopold de Rothschild (1845-1917), scion of the fabulously wealthy Rothschild dynasty of bankers. Many in the Rothschild clan were Fabergé enthusiasts. The accounting records of the London shop tell us that they purchased all sorts of jewelry, household objects, table accessories, smoking paraphernalia and so on. But it was Leopold who came up with the blue-green color of Fabergé objects. Those two colors were linked to the family’s equestrian practices and the frequent participation of Rothschild jockeys in British races. Dark green and yellow were used in the riders’ uniforms and their sporting inventory, and that combination was registered in 1843 as the family’s official colors.
The cigar box, penknife with a pencil holder, inkwell, table clock and elegant seal with a handle are all decorated with the same stripes. Interestingly, a new cigar standard, later given the name robusto, was developed expressly for Leopold Rothschild.
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