There are only five known surviving column portrait frames by the Fabergé firm. This one was specially commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II for Field Marshall-General Count Dmitrii Alekseevich Miliutin for his seventy-fifth anniversary as a Russian army officer. He served Tsar Alexander II as minister of war between 1861 and 1881, introducing numerous reforms of the Russian army. In 1898, the count was honored with a promotion to the rank of field marshall during the celebration of the eightieth anniversary of Tsar Alexander II’s birthday. In the miniature on this column, Nicholas II honored Miliutin by appearing in the uniform of the First Artillery Brigade of the Guards, the regiment in which the count began his long and successful military career.
Gold, silver, enamel.
Size 15.24 × 5.56 × 5.56 cm.
Portrait miniature size 3.18 × 2.54 cm.
Marked with a St. Petersburg assay office gold hallmark and maker's mark "HW" for Henrik Wigström.