A gold and enamel topographical Snuff-Box

MARKED FABERG, WORKMASTER HENRIK WIGSTRM, ST. PETERSBURG, 1908-1917, WITH SCRATCHED INVENTORY NUMBER 26401

Details

A gold and enamel topographical Snuff-Box
marked Faberg, workmaster Henrik Wigstrm, St. Petersburg, 1908-1917, with scratched inventory number 26401
Oval, inset with painted miniatures depicting views of Peterhof, the hinged cover showing the Great Palace with the Great Cascade in its later form, the base with the same view in its earlier design, both within foliate and scroll borders of translucent green and opaque white enamel with red buds on gilt stippled ground with oval and rosette white enamel decorations, the sides with miniatures showing Monplaisir and Marly Palaces between views of the urns on the terrace of the Grand Cascade with the Voronikhin colonade in the background, with three white enamel columns at intervals, between foliate and scroll borders in green, white and red, marked inside base and cover and on rim
2.7/8in. (7.5cm.) wide

Lot Essay

Peterhof [Petrodvorets] was founded in 1714 by Peter the Great following the elevation of St. Petersburg as capital of the Russian empire. Having made a general plan himself the tsar employed J.-B. Le Blond, F. Braunstein and N. Michetti as the original architects of the Great Palace, Monplaisir and the Marly Palace in imitation of Versailles, with formal gardens with fountains and a cascade descending to the Gulf of Finland. The Great Palace as enlarged by B.F. Rastrelli by order of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, with further alterations and additions to the palaces and surrounding complex during the reign of Catherine the Great and her successors. It is possible that this box was commissioned for the bicentenary of Peterhof in 1914.