The firm of Hahn was established by Carl August Ferdinand Hahn (1836–1899) in St Petersburg in 1873. During the reign of Emperor Alexander III it was granted the title ‘purveyor to the court’, an honour that was renewed in 1903 when Carl’s son Dmitry took over the firm after his death. The firm supplied diamond-set insignia of various Orders, presentation jewellery and snuffboxes; its most significant creation, however, was the coronation crown of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna (1872– 1918). Its premises were located at 26 Nevsky Prospekt. The son of a Finnish blacksmith, Carl Blank (1857–1924) was a workmaster for the firm of Hahn from 1882 until 1909, and, from 1909 until 1911, the year the firm closed, its business partner. Thereafter Blank established his own independent business and continued as a supplier to the Imperial Cabinet. He was appointed an Appraiser of the Cabinet in 1915, a role previously performed by Carl and Dmitry Hahn (respectively 1896–1903 and 1904–1911). This rock crystal bonbonnière, made in the last three years of the firm, illustrates that Hahn could rival Fabergé in the creation of Galanteriewaren.

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