Mikhail Perkhin (1860-1903)

Michael Perchin was head workmaster at the Russian goldsmith and jewellery firm Fabergé between 1886 and 1903.  He was responsible for over a hundred works now in the Royal Collection, including Easter egg pendants, desk clocks and photograph frames.  Some of the firm's most artistically innovative work was produced under his oversight, in styles ranging from neo-rococo to Renaissance.  Particularly distinctive is his use of gold and enamel to produce objects at once functional and elegant. 

Perchin was born in Petrozavodsk and began his career as a journeyman in the workshop of Erik Kollin, Fabergé's then head workmaster.  In 1884 he qualified as a master craftsman and two years later succeeded Kollin as head workmaster.  In this role he oversaw some of the firm's most important commissions, including about half of the Imperial Easter eggs.