A gold mounted hardstone Ibex box by Carl Fabergé,
the oval box formed from a single large piece of richly coloured bowenite, the lid dramatically carved as a Siberian ibex, its ridged horns swept back and eyes set with rubies, mounted top bottom in red gold, the lid encircled with gold reeds bound with gold ribbons.
Chief Workmaster Henrik Wigström,
St. Petersburg, circa 1911
London import marks for 1911-1912,
inventory number: 15698.
Length 13 cm.
Henrik Wigström (1862-1923) was Fabergé’s last Chief Workmaster. He was the firm’s senior craftsman in St. Petersburg, overseeing the other workshops and undertaking the most prestigious works, including making the firm’s Imperial Easter Eggs. He was an exacting goldsmith, whose elegant and often whimsical combinations of precious metals and hardstones were highly prized by Fabergé.