A Fabergé jeweled gold and enamel cigarette case by Abram Beilin-Levkov, St. Petersburg, 1908–1917

Gold, diamonds, enamel

3 1/2 x 2 3/8 in. (8.9 x 6 cm)

Inv. no. ab_6947

St. Petersburg jeweler Abram Beilin-Levkov made superb gold cigarette cases that he supplied to Fabergé and other major firms. This engraved gold case made for Fabergé is decorated with a fylfot pattern intertwined with flowers in dark blue enamel and a diamond-set thumbpiece. The fylfot, sometimes known in Russian as solntsevorot (солнцеворот), became popular as a symbol of good luck in the last years of the Russian Empire.

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 their collaboration with Fabergé, 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 Beilin-Levkov 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.