Fabergé in the Royal Collection
An introduction to Fabergé in the Royal Collection
Caesar
RCIN 40339
In 1903, King Edward VII was presented with the Norfolk terrier, Caesar, who quickly became his favourite dog. He accompanied the King almost everywhere, including France and Germany, and was likely with him when he inspected Fabergé's first models of Sandringham animals. If so, Caesar would have come face-to-face with his own likeness. Fabergé modelled him in chalcedony, a milky variety of quartz, and gave him polished ruby eyes to hint at his mischievous personality. True to life, he also included the inscription 'I belong to the King' on Caesar's collar in gold and enamel. When the King died in 1910, the dog walked behind his coffin as part of the funeral procession. Today he is immortalised in stone in St George's Chapel, Windsor, sitting at the foot of his master's tomb.