LOT 3 Fire Opal Carving of a Pig by Gerd Dreher
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Fire Opal Carving of a Pig by Gerd Dreher
Idar-Oberstein, Germany Created by one of Germany's foremost artists renowned for his animal carvings, this pig is realistically carved from a single large piece of firey orange opal. Showing natural texturing of fur and the skin, the bright orange translucent material from which this fine carving was produced is particularly gem-like at the ears and at the edges of the stippled ground on which he sits. This is as fine a carving as can be found and one which is sure to be worthy of the attention of either the serious opal collector or the collector of Lapidary Works of Art. Inscribed with monogram signature GD for Gerd Dreher. Length 4 1/2in (11.4cm) and weighing 1541 carats (308.2 grams)
|Provenance: Purchased from Bonhams & Butterfields, Los Angeles, Natural History, December 11, 2012, Sale 21137, Lot 2013. 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."
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