On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Bell Push in the form of an Elephant
Electricity was a new, expensive commodity in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Russia. Fabergé, ever alert to new fashions and technology, created numerous tabletop and desk-bell pushes used to summon servants; he was also fond of the elephant, which was popular among his lapidary productions. Symbol of purity and magnanimity, it has been suggested that this elephant may be a reference to Empress Maria Feodorovna, born the Danish princess Dagmar, as it recalls Denmark's ancient Order of the Elephant.
[Wolfram Koeppe, 2011]
