Set with old-cut, rose-cut and cabochon stones on a red guilloche and blue enamel ground, the 4in (10cm) tall cross came in a fitted leather case inscribed: Croix Ciselé Vers 1725. Avant fait partie du tresor des Romanoff, Offerte en 1850 par Le Tsar Nicolas 1st a Madame Arnould-Plessy. Collection de Monsieur Foulon de Vaux.
So, there was the intrinsic value of the cross and the romantic provenance back to the Czars and the fact that it was a gift from Nicolas to the celebrated actress Jeanne Sylvane Arnould-Plessy who made her debut at the Comedie Française in 1834 and worked at the French Theatre in St Petersburg from the mid 1840s to 1855 when she returned to Paris.
At some point it came into the known Foulon de Vaux collection and, more recently into the possession of the collector who supplied Finan's sale with the fine opals and Fabergé mouse, described elsewhere on this page.
Naturally, it attracted the attention of the London trade but it was also the target of a local lady. Both were bidding on the phone and when the lady yielded to the London bid of £12,200 - well above unprinted estimate - Mr Finan felt she might have been suffering from the sort of nerves private buyers are more prone to when bidding on the phone than in the room. This feeling was backed up when later she pressed him for the identity of the successful buyer.
Mr Finan couldn't go so far as to name names, but suggested that, as his retail outlet was in the Bond Street area and conveniently near Park Lane, she might well find the cross for sale at Grosvenor House.
Undeterred by considerations of premium and VAT bringing the dealer's purchase sum to around £14,300 and their need to make a reasonable profit, she went to the fair.
Quite what she would have had to go to in the room to secure the cross is, of course, unknown but she was, said Mr Finan "quite determined to have it".
What the lady eventually paid is a private matter but she was obviously satisfied with the deal. "She sent us champagne and a thank-you note," said Mr Finan with the happy air of any auctioneer who had pleased not only vendor and buyer but also the end user.
