Description A FABERGÉ SILVER FRAME, BY WORKMASTER ARMFELT HJALMAR,...

Description

A FABERGÉ SILVER FRAME, BY WORKMASTER ARMFELT HJALMAR, ST PETERSBURG, 1908-1917

The double-sided silver frame with rock crystal and round-shaped loop surmount, struck with maker's mark '' in Cyrillic, 88 Zolotnik-silver, length 22cm, width 13.7cm

Reference: Encyclopaedia of Whos Who in the House of Faberge by Will Lowes and Christel Ludewig McCanless, page 181

The initials are stamped on the Silver Frame. This piece is by Finish workmaster Karl Gustav Hjalmar Armfelt, who went to St Petersburg at age thirteen and apprenticed to the silversmith Paul Fredrik Sohkman. He was well qualified in his field, after studying at the German Art School in St Petersburg and at the Baron Stieglitz Central School of Applied Arts, he trained under Anders Nevalainen from 1895 -1904 and qualified as workmaster in 1904. He went on to purchase Viktor Aarnes workshop, then employing twenty goldsmiths and three apprentices. Aarne recommended Armfelt to Fabergé and he did not disappoint, producing high quality objects of art in gold, silver and miniature frames until 1916. The silver and rock crystal frame on offer in Adams sale is a prime example of the top-quality frames produced by Armfelt, during his tenure as work master in collaboration with Fabergé. Armfelt returned to Finland in 1920, where he worked with Kultakeskus from 1925 to 1937 and he died in Helsinki in 1959.