Abram Beilin-Levkov, gold samorodok cigarette case with sapphire thumbpiece, St. Petersburg, 1908–1917

Gold, sapphire

4 1/8 x 3 1/8 in. (10.6 x 7.9 cm)

Inv. no. ab_6941

This samorodok cigarette case by Abram Beilin-Levkov was made using a technique that enjoyed great popularity in Imperial Russia around 1900. Known as reticulation in English, samorodok gold or silver work have a rough surface reminiscent of an unaltered gold (or silver) nugget. To create it, the outermost layer of the metal is heated to just below the melting point and then very rapidly cooled. The goldsmith cannot control the final result, so the appearance is organic and always surprising.

The maker of this cigarette case, St. Petersburg jeweler Abram Solomonovich (or Lipov Sholomov) Beilin-Levkov (1844/45–1922), sometimes called Abraham Beilin, established a successful business despite the many official and unofficial restrictions placed on Jews in Imperial Russia. His firm is best known for having supplied Fabergé with gold cases and snuffboxes, but his works were also retailed by other jewelers such as Ovchinnikov, Nemirov-Kolodkin, Marshak, and Bolin. Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, a descendant of the father and son jewelers Alexander Tillander, wrote that both her great-grandfather and grandfather turned to the firm when they were unable to fill orders on time. Beilin-Levkov also provided watchmaker Pavel Bure (Paul Bouhré) with the gold chains for his pocket watches. According to researcher Valentin Skurlov, some records indicate that his workshop was sizeable, and that he employed between 60-80 masters, while others indicate a smaller number. Whatever the case, Beilin-Levkov achieved the status of a Merchant of the First Guild, a designation reserved for the owners of the very largest firms who were permitted to export their wares. His status is attested to by the fact that he served for some time as the Chairman of the Society of Jewelers, a trade organization.

Much of his biography remains unclear, but it is known that he established his workshop in St. Petersburg at 22 Sadovaya Street in 1882. In 1906 his son David Beilin-Levkov (1879 – 1950s or after), a graduate of the Riga Polytechnical Institute, joined the family business, which was renamed "A. Beilin & Son." An entry on David in a guidebook to the Riga Institute’s graduates indicates that he was born in Polotsk (now in Belarus), but educated in St. Petersburg’s Peterschule, where Carl Fabergé and his sons also completed their educations. This suggests that Abram was from or at least worked for some time in Polotsk. A second son, Mikhail (Moisei, 1869/70–?), appears to have worked with the firm for some limited time.

During World War I, the firm manufactured wares supporting the Russian military. It is almost certain that their business and its valuable stock were confiscated by Soviet authorities in late 1917 or 1918. Sometime after that the family left St. Petersburg and by 1922 were living in Berlin. A notice published in the emigré newspaper Rul' in November 1922 indicates that Abram died on 7 November and was buried in Adas Yisroel cemetery at Weisensee. His son David Beilin-Levkov (or Beilin-Lewkow) moved to France and, according to the memoirs of Eugène Fabergé, continued to collaborate with remaining members of the Fabergé family living there in 1920s and 1930s. French state records confirm that David, his wife Berta, or Berthe (née Halperin, b. 1887), daughter Lydia (b. 1906), and younger daughter Eugénie (Evgeniia, b. 1910) lived in Paris in that period. David’s cousins Nathan, Elie (Ilia) and Léon had a flourishing jewelry business and it possible that David and his brother Mikhail worked with them.

Like other Russian refugees, the Beilin-Lewkows (as they now spelled their names) were officially stateless and, as Jews, establishing some status became urgent when German forces took France in 1940. The following year they attempted to secure the documents necessary to emigrate to the United States, but their efforts were unsuccessful. They were able to escape to a small village in the Unoccupied Zone outside Vichy France. There, in June 1943, the Gestapo raided their home, looting all their possessions, including jewelry and family papers, and arresting Lydia and Berta. David Beilin-Lewkow happened not be home at the time, remaining behind when his wife and older daughter were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Both women perished there sometime during the next month. David survived into the 1950s, but the events of 1943 had taken a toll on his mental and physical health. The fate of Eugénie, the youngest daughter who survived until 1996, and her uncle Mikhail (Moisei or Michel) remain the subject of research.