- Wartski
Wartski, in Grafton Street,
Mayfair, London , arejeweller s that have held royal appointments as Jewellers to H.M. the Queen and H.R.H. The Prince of Wales. They sell silver and works ofRussian art ; Wartski are particularly known for having sold many ofCarl Fabergé 's Imperial Russian Easter eggs. The firm was founded in Bangor, North Wales by Morris Wartski in 1865, and moved to the seaside resort ofLlandudno , where theMarquess of Anglesey was the best customer andDavid Lloyd George was engaged as the firm's lawyer. Wartski expanded with a showroom in London in 1911, where the firm was patronised by the connoisseur Queen Mary; it remains a family-held business.Emanuel Snowman, Wartski's son-in-law, travelled to the
U.S.S.R. from 1925 to negotiate the purchase of formerRomanoff jewels and "objets d'art " from the "Antiquariat" set up to attract essential foreign currency. His son, (Abraham) Kenneth Snowman (1919-2002), wrote standard works, "The Art of Carl Fabergé" (1953), followed by "Carl Fabergé: Goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia" and "Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe" (1966), written at the urging ofSacheverell Sitwell . As a curator, Snowman organised the exhibitions of Febergé at theVictoria and Albert Museum (1977) and at theCooper-Hewitt Museum , New York (1983). He was elected a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries in 1994 and appointedCBE for his services to the arts and to charitable institutions in 1997.References
* [http://www.wartski.com/ Wartski.com]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020812/ai_n12631328 "The Independent", Aug 12, 2002 : Obituary of Kenneth Snowman]
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