Miniature animals carved out of various forms of hardstone occupied a special place in Fabergé's imagination, and the Fabergé Museum has some of the finest specimens in its collection. They were highly prized by the firm’s regular customers, and the widowed Empress Maria Feodorovna simply adored them. The books of His Imperial Majesty’s Cabinet record the purchase of 233 Fabergé figurines between December 1891 and April 1916. Maria Feodorovna liked to make scenic compositions with them on the tables in Anichkov Palace.
The smallest animal figurines seriously tested the skill of Fabergé’s lapidaries; after all, the smaller the object, the smaller the acceptable margin of error.
The miniscule obsidian seal on an ice floe made of mountain crystal is also a stamp for documents with an engraved impression of the word “Miriam.”