Frame with a photograph of Prince Charles

Queen Elizabeth originally purchased this frame from Wartski and placed inside it a photograph of the Prince of Wales as a young child, dating from approximately 1955. The frame is of bowenite, the pale green translucent stone often used by Fabergé. The designer Birbaum recalls in his memoirs that the stone had a ‘marvellous green grape colour’. This frame is mounted with the usual gold strut and gold mounts, to which white and red enamel is applied, and the bowenite is mounted with foliate swags held by ribbons in yellow and red gold. The frame continues to be displayed at Clarence House.

Mark of Michael Perchin; gold mark of 56 zolotniks (before 1896); FABERGÉ in Cyrillic characters