Rectangular pedimented strut frame, gold, foliate bun feet, pink guilloché moiré and opaque white enamel panels, scrolled decoration to pediment and base panels, gold rosettes on corner panels, bead and reel mounts, inset with photograph of Tsar Alexander III.

This frame was made in Fabergé’s Moscow workshops a few years after the death of the Tsar in 1894. The photograph shows him in the uniform of a Cossack General. Grand Duke Alexander had become Tsarevich after the death of his older brother Nicholas in 1865 and on 28 October 1866 he married his late brother’s fiancée, Princess Dagmar of Denmark. He became Emperor in 1881 after the assassination of his father. The Tsar died at the age of 49 and his funeral took place on 19 November. It was attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) and by the Duke of York (later King George V), who recalled theTsar’s funeral in his diary: ‘The funeral of darling uncle Sacha took place in the fortress Church of St Peter & St Paul, the Service began at 10.30 & lasted till 1.00…It was all terribly sad & most impressive & I shall never forget it…Darling aunt Minny was so brave & behaved so beautifully.’ The frame is thought to have been a gift from Tsarina Maria Feodorovna to her sister, Queen Alexandra.

Illegible workmaster's mark; Moscow gold mark of 56 and silver mark of 84 zolotniks (1896-1908); Fabergé in Cyrillic characters

Text adapted from Fabergé in the Royal Collection