AN ‘historically important’ link to Russia’s imperial past and the fabled House of Fabergé is to go under the hammer at Bulstrodes in Christchurch tomorrow.

Until last week it had been thought the ornately enamelled silver cutlery set was by Fabergé, but research carried out by auctioneer Kate Howe has revealed it was actually made by Ivan Saltikov for the Grachev brothers, Imperial silversmiths and rivals of Fabergé.

However, the auction lot, which is expected to fetch between £8,000 and £10,000, also includes two letters written by Carl Fabergé that relate to one of the famous Imperial Easter Eggs created between 1885 and 1917 for the Russian Tsars.

“This is very exciting and we have had significant interest from collectors of the Fabergé Easter Eggs,” said Kate.

“Historically this is a very important lot, not only because of the letters written by Fabergé, but because of their content. They fill in some of the cracks in the Fabergé story as they shed new light on the identity of one of the locations depicted inside the Imperial Rock Crystal Easter Egg.”

Just two months before their coronation in 1896, Nicholas II gave the egg to his wife to mark their second Easter as a married couple. Inside are six pairs of miniature watercolour paintings on ivory by Johannes Zehngraf depicting scenes that would evoke happy memories for the young empress.

The letters reveal one of the buildings is Cathcart House in Harrogate where the then Princess Alix of Hesse, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, stayed during a visit to North Yorkshire in 1894 to ‘take the cure’ in the famous baths as a treatment for her sciatica.

During her stay the owner of the house, a Mrs Allen, gave birth to twins, a girl and a boy. The princess took this as a good omen for her forthcoming marriage to Grand Duke Nicholas and asked to be godmother to the twins and that they be named Alix and Nicholas. She attended the baptism and maintained a close relationship with her godchildren.

Two identical boxed cutlery sets were sent to Alix and Nicholas as their first birthday gifts in 1895 and an original photograph of the sets is included in the sale as is a scrapbook of letters and news clippings.

The book also includes the two handwritten letters signed by Carl Fabergé, as well as telegrams from Queen Alexandra to Princess Victoria and many other documents providing a fascinating provenance.

The auction is expected to take place at 11.20am.