FRIEDRICH KOECHLI, A LATE 19TH CENTURY GEM-SET GOLD VINAIGRETTE PENDANT, CIRCA 1892

FRIEDRICH KOECHLI, A LATE 19TH CENTURY GEM-SET GOLD VINAIGRETTE PENDANT, CIRCA 1892, in the form of a snake, its head set with rose-cut diamond eyes and a cabochon pear-shaped sapphire, suspending a heart-shaped hinged vinaigrette from its mouth, the vinaigrette mounted with a collet-set cabochon sapphire, the snake's body of scrolling form suspended from a loop bail, bail stamped with maker's mark for Friedrich Koechli, *56 and date 1892, length 8cm

Friedrich Koechli (1839-1909) was a Swiss-born goldsmith who was one of the most prominent jewellers to the Imperial Court of Russia. He was favoured by Tsar Alexander III and Tsar Nicholas II, and by 1903, his firm had four Ducal warrants. Koechli's workshop was located at 17 Gorokhovaya Street, St Petersburg, and he had exhibited in St. Petersburg in 1870 and at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900.