This 33/4in (9.25cm) wide box, with import hallmarks for London 1911, carried the workmaster's mark of Fedor Ruckert, Faberge's principal in enamel who worked in Moscow between 1908-1917. The subject chosen for the cover is Victor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov's Russian Knight at the Crossroads of 1882 that hangs in the Russian State museum in St Petersburg.
With plenty of Russian interest at the sale on Valentine's day in Essex, bidding hit £43,000, plus 15% buyer's premium (estimate £6000-8000) before the box sold to a buyer from the Midlands.
