Fabergé’s workshops, particularly that of Michael Perchin - his chief workmaster from 1886 to 1903 - produced many neo-rococo pieces, a style which was very popular in St Petersburg in the 1880s. Notable among them is the Imperial Easter Egg known as the Memory of Azov Egg, dated 1891, which features the combination of bloodstone and gold mounts set with diamonds as used here. Henrik Wigström, who took over as chief workmaster in 1903, continued neo-rococo ornament in some of his work (as seen in a drawing in his design books for a nephrite and gold cigarette case), but his style was lighter and more restrained than Perchin’s. The neo-rococo was quickly subsumed by the neo-classical in Wigström’s designs. The flamboyant rococo design of this box, mounted in gold and set with rose diamonds, is similar to a green jasper carnet in the Wernher Collection, made between 1896 and 1899, also by Michael Perchin. This box was originally owned by Marie, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whose daughters presented it to King George V in 1920.

Mark of Michael Perchin; gold mark of 56 zolotniks (before 1896); Fabergé in Cyrillic characters

Text adapted from Fabergé in the Royal Collection