Alma Pihl

Alma Theresia Pihl-Klee (15 November 1888 in Moscow – 15 July 1976 in Helsinki) was one of the two female designers at Fabergé and one of the best known female Fabergé workmasters.

Alma Pihl
Born	(1888-11-15)November 15, 1888 Moscow, Russian Empire
Died	July 15, 1976(1976-07-15) (aged 87) Helsinki, Finland
Education	Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design
Occupation(s)	Fabergé workmaster designer
Notable work	Winter (Fabergé egg) Mosaic (Fabergé egg)
Father	Knut Oskar Pihl
Family	Oskar Pihl (brother) August Wilhelm Holmström (grandfather)

She was the daughter of Finnish goldsmith Knut Oskar Pihl [fi] (1860–1897), granddaughter of Fabergé head jeweler, August Holmström and the niece of Fabergé jewelry designer Hilma Alina Holmström (1875–1936)^[1] and sister of jeweler and goldsmith Oskar Woldemar Pihl. As a self-trained designer, she started to work for Fabergé in 1909.

She designed the famous Winter Easter Egg in 1913 and Mosaic Easter Egg in 1914, which now belongs to the collection of the UK Monarch in Great Britain, and also many pieces of fine jewelry of which the most famous is a collection of snowflake jewelry designed for Emanuel Nobel.

Pihl moved to Finland due to the Russian Revolution (1917–1923).^[2] Finland was part of the Russian Empire until the revolution, as the Grand Duchy of Finland.

References

1. Tillander-Godenhielm, Ulla (2011). Fabergén suomalaiset mestarit [Fabergé’s Finnish masters] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 35. ISBN 978-951-31-5878-1.
2. Grekula, Vesa (21 April 2019). "32-vuotias opettaja päätti pitää salaisuuden kuolemaansa asti – onnistui niin hyvin, ettei kotikylillä Suomessa vieläkään ymmärretä hänen olleen yksi maailman suurimmista taiteilijoista" (in Finnish). Yle. Retrieved 30 December 2021.

Literature

• Bainbridge, H. C.: Peter Carl Fabergé: Goldsmith and Jeweller to the Russian Imperial Court. 1966.
• Hill, Gerard & Smorodinova G. G. & Ulyanova, B. L.: Fabergé and the Russian master Goldsmiths. 2008.
• Paro, Maj-Britt: Tant Almas hemlighet: Fabergékonstnären Alma Pihl. [Aunt Alma's Secret. Fabergé Artist Alma Pihl./ Biography in Swedish.] Helsingfors: Tore och Herdis Modeens stiftelse, 2012. ISBN 978-952-93-1573-4
• Seppälä, Anu: Jääkukkia keisarinnalle: Alma Pihlin uskomaton elämä. [Ice Flowers for the Empress. The Unbelievable Life of Alma Pihl. / Biography in Finnish.] Helsinki: Ajatus Kirjat, 2003. ISBN 951-20-6352-2
• Tillander-Godenhielm, Ulla: Fabergén suomalaiset mestarit [Fabergé's Finnish masters]. Helsinki: Tammi, 2011. ISBN 978-951-31-5878-1 (Lay summary in English.)

External links

• Fabergé's rare gem: Alma Pihl on YouTube by the V and A