Dating to 1899-1903, the case is decorated with vertical stripes of pale green and mauve translucent enamel over a textured ground, overlaid with gold bands and seed pearl borders. The push piece is diamond and the front is mounted with an oval plaque of translucent white enamel over a sunburst ground with crowned gold cipher LCR.

 

The case is from the Kazan collection and, as Michel Y Ghosn notes in his catalogue of the Collection (page 103 of "Objets de Vertu par Fabergé", 1996), the initial R and Imperial crown tempt one to conclude that the case belonged to a member of the Romanov family.

 

The case bears the workmaster's initials of Michael Perchin. A similar example by Perchin sold at Christie's Geneva on 17 November 1981 (lot 107).

 

This case sold at Sotheby's New Bond Street, London on 31 May for £131,200 (with commission). The estimate was £50,000 - £70,000.

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