This box has views in enamel of two monuments in St Petersburg: the statue of Peter the Great and the Sts Peter and Paul Fortress (on the underside). The monument was commissioned by Catherine the Great from the French sculptor Etienne Falconet (1716-91) to glorify Peter the Great's absolutism and was completed in 1782. It was placed beside the Neva river on a massive rock pedestal which had been brought from the village of Lakhta, outside St Petersburg. Erected at the command of Peter the Great in 1703, the Sts Peter and Paul Fortress marks the foundation of St Petersburg as the new capital of Russia. It is the burial site of Peter the Great and all subsequent tsars. This box was probably made in 1903 to coincide with the two hundredth anniversary of St Petersburg.

Mark of Henrik Wigström; gold mark of 72 zolotniks (1896-1908)

Text adapted from Fabergé in the Royal Collection