An enamelled silver mounted Karelian birch
photograph frame by Carl Fabergé,

in the form of a pediment, centred with a rectangular aperture
in a reeded silver bezel tied with gilded red ribbons, containing an
original photograph of the Heir, Tsarevitch and Grand Duke Alexei
Nicholaivitch, surmounted by a rectangular panel enamelled scarlet
over a moiré guillochage and applied with chased silver gilt
festoons, mounted below the aperture with silver bellflower
and rose motifs gilded green and red, with hinged strut
closing flush to the rear.

Workmaster: Anders Nevalainen,
St. Petersburg, circa 1907,
inventory number 14132.

10.8 cm by 16.6 cm.

The frame contains an original photograph of Nicholas II's only son, the Heir,
Tsarevitch and Grand Duke Alexei Nicholaivitch. The photograph is one of a
series taken in St. Petersburg in 1907 during a sitting with his father. Very
few copies of the photographs were developed and their distribution was
strictly controlled by the Imperial Household.

Works in wood form a significant part of Fabergé oeuvre and wooden frames
were used by the Imperial family as personal gifts. While lavish jewelled and
enamelled gifts were deemed appropriate as gifts for servants and dignitaries,
Sovereigns and close relatives would be given wooden frames. The use
of wood and the inclusion of a familyphotograph made them highly intimate gifts.

The frame comes from the collection of a private family in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Wiesbaden was the capital city of the duchy of Hesse by Rhine, where the
Tsarevitch’s mother Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Princess of Hesse
by Rhine was born. The frame's provenance has been lost but it is a
possible that it was a gift from Alexandra, mother of the Tsarevitch,
to a friend or family member in Hesse by Rhine.

Note to back of photograph dated 1907. The triangular tabs holding the photograph in place are all intact, suggesting
it has never been removed. Mottled grey counter-enameling to the enamel panel above.