HATPIN
14-karat gold, guilloché enamel, diamond, emerald
L. 3⅜ in.
 
WORKMASTER: August Frederik Hollming

DATE: 1899–1908

PLACE: St. Petersburg

MARKS OR SIGNATURES: On the pin: A*H, in a rectangular punch; 56, kokoshnik head facing left, partially struck.
 
Although this elegant pin has frequently been called a stickpin, it is more likely that it was designed as a hatpin for a small lady’s hat. The spherical head of the pin is better suited to display in a hat, and it would not lie flat in a cravat as stickpins are most often designed to do. Finally, the gauge of the gold pin itself is too thick to pierce a cravat without damaging it although that gauge and the spiral notching of the pin would aid in securing a small hat.
 
The workmaster for the pin was August Frederik Hollming (Finnish, 1854–1913), who qualified as a master goldsmith in St. Petersburg in 1880. In 1900, Hollming moved his workshop to 24 Bolshaya Morskaya, the headquarters of the House of Fabergé, where the shop was located on the third floor.
 
Although the Hollming atelier produced a great number of gold, silver and enamel cigarette cases, it also made a wide variety of miniature Easter eggs in enamel and hardstone as well as small gem-set and enameled jewels such as cufflinks, brooches, stickpins and hatpins. In spite of their small scale, such pieces were always beautifully crafted and typically displayed such subtle contrasts as the colored guilloché enamel and faceted cabochon gems observed here.
 
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