A Fabergé silver-gilt, seed-pearl and lilac guilloché enamel photograph frame, workmaster: Victor Aarne, St. Petersburg, circa 1890

of octagonal form surmounted with a ribbon-tie, the bezel similarly shaped with seed-pearl border enclosing a photograph of Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel, Queen of Denmark, ivory back, silver-gilt strut, marked Fabergé with workmaster's initials and scratched inventory number 1145, 88 standard, in a Fabergé fitted case containing a handwritten note in Danish: Lille Lilla Emaili[e] Ramme med Mamas Photografi i - fra Minny, Januar 1899 

Purchased by Empress Maria Fedorovna (1847-1928) on 12th December 1898
Presented to her sister, Princess Thyra of Denmark, Duchess of Cumberland, January 1899

Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Fabergé Hofjuwelier de Zaren, 5 December 1986 - 22 February 1987, cat. no. 430 
Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Fabergé-Cartier Rivalen am Zarenhof, 28 November 2003 - 12 April 2004, cat. no. 248

Géza von Habsburg, Fabergé Hofjuwelier de Zaren, Munich, 1986, pp. 227-8
Géza von Habsburg, Fabergé-Cartier Rivalen am Zarenhof, Munich, 2003, p.  227

The following condition report has been supplied by: Plowden & Smith Limited, 190 St. Ann's Hill, London SW18 2RT tel + 44 (0)20 8874 4005, fax + 44 (0)20 8874 7248, info@plowden-smith.co.uk www.plowden-smith.co.uk In apparent good condition. The silk interior of the box with the stamped Fabergé mark has been glued into the box the wrong way around. The gilt screws are worn.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is the first of the recorded gifts from the Empress Maria Fedorovna to Duchess Thyra in this collection. The elegant frame containing a photograph of Queen Louise of Denmark was probably intended as a souvenir of their mother, Queen Louise, who had died at Bernstorff in September 1898, at the age of 81. In a letter that originally accompanied the present, written from the Empress's St. Petersburg residence, the Anichkov Palace, on 10^th January 1899, she apologised for her briefness and signed off: "I send you just this photo in a lilac frame – of our blessed mother, taken by me in the rose garden. And now goodbye Thyra, God bless you and all yours. A thousand kisses from your loyal, beloved old Dagmar". Interestingly, the original photograph included Duchess Thyra standing by her mother, however to fit the present frame it needed to be trimmed. For a reproduction of the complete image, one of a group of sixteen photographs of the extended Danish Royal family incorporated in a revolving frame, see Géza von Hapsburg and Marina Lopato, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, London, 1993, no. 78.    

A frame by Aarne of almost identical size and shape, enamelled in pale mauve but without the seed-pearl bezel, was exhibited National Museum, Stockholm, Carl Fabergé Goldsmith to the Tsar, 1987, cat. no. 113.

The note in Danish translates: Small lilac enamel frame with photograph of Mama [mother], January 1899.