An Imperial Fabergé Alexander III Presentation Gold-Mounted and Diamond-Set Silver Cigarette Case Fabergé, Workmaster Mikhail Perkhin, St. Petersburg, circa 1883-1899 3-7/8 x 2-3/4 inches (9.8 x 7.0 cm) 212 grams (gross) This diamond-set and gold-mounted Fabergé presentation cigarette case centers the conjoined Imperial cyphers of Emperor Alexander III and his wife the Empress Maria Feodorovna in a form which was used in the 1880s. The cypher is the same as that installed on the gates of the Winter Palace in 1884. The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg originally had wooden gates designed by Yuri Velten facing palace square, but these 18th century portals did not survive. In the mid-19th century plans were drawn up by court architect A.I. Stackenschneider, but it was not until 1855 that the gates that we see today were designed by architect N.A. Gornostaev and made by the San Galli Factory in St. Petersburg from blackened wrought iron. After the coronation of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna in 1883, the cyphers were cast from copper and gilded and mounted on the gates, where they remained until the revolution. The gates were restored and the cyphers replaced in 2003. The offered lot may date from the period of the original installation of the cyphers or slightly later, representing an early commission from the Imperial Family from the house of Fabergé. Alexander III's first purchase was in 1882 at the Pan-Russian Industrial Exhibition in Moscow. Property from an Important Private Collection HID03101062020 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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