Saturday, June 8, 2013

Mastery of Design: Edward VII's Cigarette Case, 1903



Cigarette Case
Presented to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, 1903
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection 
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II






The Dowager Tsarina Marie Feodorovna presented this Fabergé cigarette case of three-color gold, rose-cut diamonds and a cabochon ruby to her brother-in-law King Edward VII in March 10, 1903 to mark the fortieth wedding anniversary of His Majesty and Her Majesty Queen Alexandra. The exuberantly elegant case takes a gently rounded rectangular shape—shining with red, yellow and white gold, (a favorite combination of Carl Fabergé) in a brilliant sunburst design. This pattern radiated around the combined cipher of King Edward and Queen Alexandra. The cipher, and on the reverse, the date, “10 March 1903 XL 1863–1903” are all set in diamonds.


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