Rare Fabergé wedding pair of icons of Christ Pantocrator and the Kazan Mother of God, workmaster Feodor Rückert, Moscow, 1908-1917; the icons possibly workshop of Vasilii Pavlovich Gur’ianov (1867-1920)

Silver, gilding, enamel; oil on zinc

Both 8 7/8 x 7 7/16 x 1 in. (22.5 x 18.8 x 2.5 cm)

Inv. no. ab_0238 and ab_0239

Exhibited: 

Moscow, Gosudarstvennyi istoriko-kulʹturnyi muzei-zapovednik "Moskovskii Kremlʹ", “Karl Faberzhe i Fedor Riukert. Shedevry russkoi emali,” 9 October 2020 – 14 February 2021, nos. 85 and 86.

Publications:

Muntyan, T.N. Karl Faberzhe i Fedor Riukert. Shedevry russkoi emali. Moscow: Gosudarstvennyi istoriko-kulʹturnyi muzei-zapovednik "Moskovskii Kremlʹ", 2020. Cat. nos. 85 and 86, pp. 88-9.

In the aftermath of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, innumerable icons were destroyed or dismantled so that their covers made from precious metals could be sold as scrap. According to one study, only a little over 100 Fabergé icons were saved. Of those, the rarest of types is the wedding pair, or set. This is the only large pair of wedding icons by Rückert known to have survived. 

The term wedding pair or wedding set describes a pair of icons traditionally given to an Orthodox Christian bride and groom at the time of their marriage. The pair typically includes an icon of Christ Pantocrator together with an icon of the Mother of God, most commonly the Kazan Mother of God. Wedding pairs like this were used to bless the couple during the wedding ceremony and would remain in a place of prominence in the family’s house thereafter.