Oval cameo portrait on smoked topaz of King Edward VIII when Prince of Wales, the bezel and loop of silver with beaded gold and rose diamonds; it hangs on a silver gilt engine turned lattice strut frame/easel.

To mark the investiture of his eldest son as Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) on 13 July 1911, King George V commissioned this cameo portrait of him in the mantle worn on that occasion. He had been created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on his sixteenth birthday (23 June 1910) and his investiture took place at Caernarvon Castle – the first time a Prince of Wales had been invested in his own principality for at least three hundred years. The cameo is carved from smoky quartz and set in a gold and rose diamond bezel, suspended from a chased gold stand in the form of an easel. The cameo was made under the direction of Henrik Wigström and appears in the design album from his workshop. King George V purchased it from the London branch on 27 April 1912 for £67 10s and presented it to Queen Mary for her birthday the following month.

Mark of Henrik Wigström, silver mark of 88 zolotniks (1908-1917); Fabergé in Roman letters; the cameo signed C.T. 1911

Text adapted from Fabergé in the Royal Collection