The work of the outstanding jeweler Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin (1860-1903) is widely known for the masterpieces, created in his workshop as a part of Carl Faberge firm in Saint Petersburg.

Mikhail Perkhin gold and silverware workshop was one the major ones among those that worked for Faberge firm. A great variety of artistic jewelry was created there by orders of noble officials - gifts for high-ranking foreign and Russian persons, ambassadors and military representatives. The collection of Imperial Easter eggs with the master's mark comprises the peculiar pride of Mikhail Perkhin workshop. 28 out of 54 Imperial Faberge Easter eggs were created in this workshop (the tradition of presenting such jewelry masterpieces to his wife was laid by Tsar Alexander III in 1885, it was continued by Nicholas II and existed until 1917). All of those art treasures were executed in the complicated guilloche technique with artistic enamels, using gold, precious stones and diamonds for decoration. While working at the Faberge firm, Mikhail Perkhin collaborated with the firm's artist Agathon Faberge, who designed the first eleven imperial Easter eggs in 1884-1895. Since 1893, the artisan had been working with the company artist Franz Peter Birbaum. Later, in his memoirs, F. Birbaum wrote, “The workshop of Perkhin produced great variety of chased and engraved items, the volume of this production was rather sizable, the best gold items of the company were created in this workshop. Combining his enormous ability to work, scrupulous knowledge of the business and perseverance in pursuing certain technical issues, Mikhail Perkhin was highly valued by the firm and enjoyed a rare prestige among apprentices".

Mikhail Perkhin joined the Faberge firm at the age of 26 and worked there until his death. A self-taught Russian peasant, Perkhin performed his work with great diligence. All his works were of the highest quality. He was an artisan, who worked superbly in the guilloche technique and in the contrast gold technique. The quality of the work was brought to perfection. Among the historical styles, the master gave preference to the Baroque style, which he mastered brilliantly.

More than 20 thousand jewelry items were produced by the workshop of M. Perkhin during the peiod of twenty years of the master’s creative activity.

For the anniversary of the M. Perkhin, we have prepared a photo album with his works, which are exhibited in the museum "Collection".

More works created in Perkhin gold and silverware workshop are in the collection sections  "Russian Enamel", "Snuffboxes and Cigarette Cases", "Jewelry and Accessories" and  "Russian Metal Artworks".

Literature:
Skurlov V.V. “Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin” (1860-1903) - master jeweler of the Faberge firm, a native of the Olonets province // Clio. 2012. No. 4 (64).
Skurlov V.V., Smorodinova G.G. “Faberge and Russian court jewelers”. M., 1992.