Rubellite Carving of a Swimming Sea Turtle by Gerd Dreher


Idar-Oberstein, Germany Fashioned from a tremendously large-sized rough specimen of gem rubellite, this sea turtle is formed of high-quality, slightly purplish-pink rubellite from Brazil. Depicted in an animated pose—he swims above a coral reef, beautifully rendered with stippled texturing. The eyes are set with marquise-shaped diamonds rimmed in 18K yellow gold. Signed with monogram GD for Gerd Dreher. Measuring 4 x 3 3/4 x 1 1/4in (10.2 x 9.5 x 2.5cm) and weighing 1406.5 carats (281.3 grams)
|Provenance: Bonhams & Butterfields, Los Angeles, Natural History, Sale 13327, lot 8264. Gerd DreherThe exquisitely detailed animal carvings of Gerd Dreher make his works among the most sought-after masterpieces of the lapidary arts. Born in 1943 in Idar-Oberstein, Gerd was a fourth generation animal figure carver. Dreher's family has been involved in the art of engraving and carving gemstones for nearly two hundred years. A long-established family tradition of producing hardstone and gem animal carvings was begun in the 19th Century and by the early 1900s their name was synonymous with that of the jeweler, Carl Fabergé. The Russian master, on his frequent trips to Idar, would provide plaster models of whimsical animal carvings, which the Dreher family would create out of jasper, agate and jade. Fabergé then sold them in his famed salons in St. Petersburg, Moscow and London. Gerd was a keenly observant naturalist who maintained a massive library of videotapes of animals in motion. His devotion to realism in muscle and animation is what sets his carvings apart. In 2004 a major retrospective exhibition of 60 works entitled The Gem Carvings of Gerd Dreher: A Fabergé Legacy, was held at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. In the words of Joel Bartsch, Curator of Gems and Minerals for the Museum, "Dreher's ability to breathe life into stone has made him one of the most famous practitioners of the craft in the world today. His work is a marriage of art and science."