Lot 0085
Very Rare Fabergé Medallion with a Minerva Cameo on a Stand in the Shape of an Easel by Henrik Wigström
Estimate: 35000-45000€
A rare Fabergé Medallion with Minerva Cameo on Easel Stand
. Workmaster Henrik Wigström, St. Petersburg, 1908–1917
. Silver, gilt, guilloché enamel, carved cameo. Easel dimensions: 18.5 × 8 cm; medallion: 8.6 × 6 cm
A highly rare Fabergé creation, this object unites a finely carved cameo of Minerva, goddess of wisdom and war, with an elegant silver-gilt easel mount enriched with translucent guilloché enamel. Designed by the firm’s chief workmaster Henrik Wigström, the piece exemplifies Fabergé’s ability to combine classical imagery with refined decorative settings. Comparable examples are known only from the most distinguished collections, including a related work sold at Christie’s (A Selection of Fabergé Masterpieces from the Harry Woolf Collection, 9 November 2021, lot 32 SOLD GBP 137,500). Henrik Wigström is regarded as one of the most important workmasters of the House of Fabergé, alongside his predecessor Michael Perkhin. Born in Finland, Wigström began his training as an apprentice to the local jeweler and goldsmith Peter Madsen. Through Madsen’s professional connections in Russia, he moved to St. Petersburg in 1886, where he joined the Fabergé workshops as an assistant to Perkhin, the firm’s leading workmaster at the time. Following Perkhin’s death in 1903, Wigström succeeded him as head workmaster.
Under his supervision, Fabergé’s workshops produced some of their most sophisticated creations in the Louis XVI and Neoclassical styles. He was highly prolific: approximately half of the Imperial Easter Eggs, as well as the majority of miniature hardstone animals, flowers, boxes, and cigarette cases made between 1904 and 1917, bear his mark “H.W.”
Wigström was also responsible for a remarkable series of objets de fantaisie, including miniature furniture inspired by 18th-century European decorative arts. These delicate, doll-like creations—crafted in gold and enamel—blur the line between functional objects and pure ornament.
One notable example is the bonbonnière in the form of an Empire-style gondola chair, produced around 1911–1912 and now in the Fabergé Museum Collection.
Starting price: 30000€
Estimate: 35000-45000€
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