Bonbonnière with a view of Balmoral Castle and Windsor Castle, 1907 (gold, enamel and sepia...

A bonbonnière of circular bombé form, gold, the base and cover with sepia and enamel views of Balmoral and Windsor Castles each with borders of branch and twig wreaths and white enamel dots; outer frieze of enamel roses and leaves with rose diamond ties. This box was given to Queen Mary for her birthday in 1934 by Sir Philip Sassoon. It had originally been purchased from the London branch by Sir Ernest Cassel on 4 November 1907 at a cost of £81 5s. According to Bainbridge, the Princess of Wales (later Queen Mary) much admired this first example of a box featuring a royal residence to return from St Petersburg to the London branch. The box has enamelled views of Balmoral Castle on one side and Windsor Castle on the other, and the edge of the box is set with enamelled roses and leaves interspersed with diamond-set crosses. Mark of Henrik Wigström; gold mark of 72 zolotniks (1896-1908); Fabergé in Cyrillic characters