Henrik Immanuel Wigström (1862-1923)

Henry Wigström was head workmaster at the Russian goldsmith and jewellery firm Fabergé between 1903 and 1917.  He was responsible for almost a hundred works now in the Royal Collection, including the Colonade Egg – one of the Imperial Easter Eggs made for the Romanov family.  Many of the hardstone animals and flower carvings acquired by the British royal family were also produced in his workshop.

Wigström was born in Tammisaari, Finland, where he was apprenticed to a local silversmith, Petter Madsen.  On moving to St Petersburg he became a journeyman under Michael Perchin, and quickly became his most valuable assistant.  Perchin became head workmaster at Fabergé in 1886, and after he died in 1903 Wigström was appointed his successor.  In this capacity Wigström created some of the firm's finest cigarette cases and boxes, largely in a neo-classical style.