Begging Poodle

c. 1895–1915

Begging Poodle, c. 1895–1915. House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918). Agate, rubies; overall: 6.4 x 2.6 x 2.3 cm (2 1/2 x 1 x 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.448 In creating luxurious accessories for a desk or tabletop, the House of Fabergé often used native hardstones such as multicolored agate and jasper, green nephrite, pink rhodonite, and rock crystal found in the Ural Mountains of western Russia. By paying careful attention to the unique colors and textures of the stones, Fabergé and his craftsmen brought them to life, turning milky agate into this figure of a begging poodle or brown and black jasper into sleeping puppies. The use of native materials also promoted Russian nationalism, which appealed greatly to the tsar and his family. Small sculptural figures of animals date back to ancient cultures that prized them both for sustenance and mythical godliness.