A miniature photograph frame by Carl Fabergé,

silver mounted palisander (Brazilian rosewood), rectangular the silver bezel decorated with a dot-dash pattern and edge with beading, supported on a scrolled silver strut, the back panel is reinforced with a panel
of silver with its original gilding

Workmaster Hjalmar Armfelt,
St. Petersburg, 1908-17.

4 cm by 5.5 cm

Fabergé employed twenty varieties of indigenous and exotic woods in his work. Using wood to produce a variety of pieces including the last Imperial Easter Egg of 1917, which was fashioned from Birch and mounted with gold. Here Armfelt has opted for the jeweller's technique for setting stones to secure the wooden panel in its silver mount; a scorper has been used to raise a grain and hold it in position. The frame holds a photograph of Maria Vladimirovna as a child.