Antique Late 19th Century Blue Russian Imperial Guilloche Enamel Faberge Snuff Scent Bottle

Small Russian Imperial Faberge blue guilloche enamel scent/snuff bottle, inlaid in silver. The antique enamel bottle measures approximately 2". The condition is very good with no enamel losses, chips, repairs, or scratches.
Fabergé Guilloché Enamel Scent Flask (c. 1890) – Craftsmanship & Imperial Elegance
The Art of Guilloché Enamel in Fabergé’s Creations  

Guilloché enameling is a signature of Fabergé’s exquisite craftsmanship. This technique combines precise engine-turned engraving (guilloché) on metal with layers of translucent enamel fused over top, creating a shimmering, iridescent effect​

Peter Carl Fabergé famously applied translucent enamel over guilloché-engraved gold and silver on his Imperial Easter eggs and countless luxury objects from the 1880s onward​

By the turn of the 20th century, Fabergé’s workshop had perfected guilloché enameling in an astonishing range of intricate patterns and in over 145 luminous enamel shades​

The result is a vibrant play of light and color – as one moves a Fabergé piece, the engine-turned waves or sunburst lines beneath the enamel seem to flicker and glow, a hallmark of Imperial Russian opulence.

Master Workmasters: Wigström, Rückert, and Fabergé’s Enamel Artistry

Such opulent pieces were brought to life by Fabergé’s master craftsmen, known as workmasters. One notable figure was Henrik Wigström, who served as Chief Workmaster from 1903 until 1917. Wigström oversaw the creation of many of Fabergé’s later treasures – including Imperial eggs and numerous enamelled objets d’art – carrying on the legacy of his predecessor, Michael Perkhin​

Under Wigström’s leadership, Fabergé’s workshop produced a large quantity of superbly crafted guilloché enamel items in gold and silver, from delicate pendant eggs and jeweled frames to luxurious scent bottles and desk clocks​

Another famed workmaster was Feodor Rückert of Moscow, celebrated for his enameling expertise. Rückert began working with Fabergé in the 1880s and was known for his brilliantly colored enamels (especially cloisonné work), often inspired by traditional Russian motifs​.

  Pieces bearing Rückert’s mark (Ф.Р. in Cyrillic) were sometimes sold independently and sometimes retailed through Fabergé’s Moscow shop​

While Rückert’s specialty was cloisonné and pictorial enamel, his association with Fabergé underscores the firm’s breadth in enameling arts. Together, master craftsmen like Wigström and Rückert ensured that every Fabergé creation, including guilloché enamel scent flasks, reflected unparalleled artistry and quality.

Hallmarks of Imperial Russia: 84 Zolotnik and Fabergé Maker’s Marks

Authentic Fabergé pieces carry a variety of Russian hallmarks that speak to their origin and quality. In Imperial Russia, silver purity was measured in zolotniki, with 84 zolotniki being the standard for most fine silver objects in the 19th century​.

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. An “84” mark stamped on a piece indicates 87.5% pure silver content​

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, roughly equivalent to the sterling standard. A Fabergé scent flask circa 1890 would thus typically bear the “84” silver mark as a guarantee of quality. Alongside the purity mark, one finds the maker’s mark – usually the initials (in Cyrillic) of the Fabergé workmaster responsible. For example, Michael Perkhin used М.П., Henrik Wigström HW (or ХВ in Cyrillic), and Feodor Rückert ФР. These initials, struck into the metal, identified the master craftsman​

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Russian hallmarking of this era also included an assay office stamp with the city’s insignia. Before 1899, St. Petersburg pieces were marked with the city’s coat of arms (two anchors and a scepter) alongside the zolotnik number, while Moscow pieces bore the mark of St. George slaying the dragon​
After 1899, the system was unified across the empire: a tiny profile of a woman’s head in a kokoshnik (traditional headdress) replaced the old city arms, with a letter beside it (α for St. Petersburg, Δ for Moscow) to denote the city​.

Fabergé’s pieces often went a step further by including the name “K. Fabergé” in Cyrillic and, for items sold in the Moscow shop, the Imperial double-headed eagle emblem, signifying Fabergé’s status as Imperial Jeweler​

All of these marks – the 84 zolotnik standard, the workmaster’s initials, the assay marks, and the Fabergé brand – work in concert to authenticate a Fabergé scent flask and place it in the rich context of Imperial Russian luxury craftsmanship.

Scent Bottles as Imperial Luxury Objects

In the late 19th-century Russian court, even functional personal items like perfume flasks became objets d’art. Members of the Imperial family and aristocracy prized these scent bottles not only for holding perfume or smelling salts, but also as symbols of taste and status. Fabergé elevated the scent flask into a jewel-like treasure, crafting them from precious materials such as silver, gold, hardstone, and enamel. Many were given as gifts or used as elegant accessories at the imperial court. For example, Queen Alexandra of Great Britain (a Danish princess by birth and sister of Empress Maria Feodorovna) was an avid Fabergé collector – at a charity bazaar in 1904, she personally purchased a Fabergé jade scent bottle for her own collection​. This royal patronage highlights how coveted such luxury flasks were among the elite.

Owning a Fabergé scent bottle in Imperial Russia meant owning a piece of the tsar’s court culture. These flasks often accompanied their owners to society balls or adorned ladies’ dressing tables, catching the light with their glimmering enamel. The marriage of utility and beauty – a practical vessel elevated with gold, enamel, and gemstones – perfectly fit the Imperial era ethos that even everyday objects should be artful and extravagant. In Russian, these types of ornate personal accessories were part of the category known as objets de vertu, and Fabergé was the unrivaled master of such fine decorative objects.

Notable Examples in Collections and Auctions

Fabergé scent bottles and flasks of this kind have graced both museum collections and prestigious auctions. The piece pictured above – shaped like a miniature tube – is one charming example, enameled in pale blue and attributed to Fabergé around 1890–1900​.

Fabergé had a penchant for transforming everyday objects into little treasures, and this flask’s trompe-l’œil design (imitating a tube of paint or toothpaste) would have delighted its owner while showcasing the delicate guilloché enamel work. Another playful creation is a golden scent bottle fashioned as a paint tube, adorned with cabochon rubies, diamonds, and a sapphire; this piece (circa 1890) was featured in the famous Harry Woolf Fabergé collection and sold at Christie’s in 2021​. Both share a refined whimsy characteristic of Fabergé’s objets de vertu.

Museums today also preserve these fragrant relics of Imperial splendor. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for instance, holds a Fabergé scent bottle carved from clear rock crystal with an amphora-like form, embellished with a guilloché enameled gold neck mount and set with diamonds and emeralds​

This piece bears the marks of Fabergé’s St. Petersburg workshop – including the firm’s initials and the imperial 56 zolotnik gold mark, attesting to its authenticity​.

Another in the Royal Collection Trust is an elegant mid-blue enamel flask of amphora form with two-color gold foliate mounts, attributed to workmaster Michael Perkhin in the 1890s (noted in A. Kenneth Snowman’s writings) – a gift from the Romanovs to King Edward VII’s family​.

Each surviving example, whether kept in a museum or sold at auction, provides a window into the luxurious world for which it was made. The artistry lavished on these scent bottles – fine engine-turned patterns, translucent enamel in rich colors, gem-set details, and imaginative forms – underscores their role as collectibles and cherished gifts among Europe’s nobility.

In today’s market, Fabergé guilloché enamel scent flasks remain highly sought-after by collectors of fine art and antique decorative objects. They encapsulate the elegance of the Imperial Russian court, carrying stories of aristocratic refinement and the meticulous workmanship of Fabergé’s atelier. A circa 1890 Fabergé silver scent bottle with guilloché enamel is thus not merely a utilitarian vessel for perfume, but a miniature masterpiece – a tangible piece of history entwined with the romance and grandeur of the last years of the Romanov era. With its delicate enamel sheen and hallmarked silver, such an object would make a crown jewel in any collection, epitomizing the marriage of beauty and function that defines Fabergé’s enduring legacy.

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