Karl Gustaf Hjalmar Armfeldt

Karl Gustaf Hjalmar Armfelt was a Finnish silversmith and Fabergé workmaster. Born in Artjärvi, Finland 6 April 1873.

In 1886, at age 13, he was apprenticed to the Finnish silversmith Paul Sohlman (1898-1904) in St.Petersburg at 42 Gorohovaya Street. He became a journeyman in 1891. He studied at the art school for five years until 1894. He worked as Fabergé's workmaster beginning in 1895, and used the mark ЯА. Hjalmar Armfelt also worked under the silversmith Antti (Anders) Nevalainen and became his closest assistant in 1901.

He became a master in 1904 and was given the exclusive opportunity to buy the workshop of Johan Victor Aarne. Armfelt produced objects for Fabergé until 1916, working on projects like those of Johan Viktor Aarne, like tiny gem-set frames, silver-mounted birchwood frames, hardstone frames, gem-set enameled gold articles and silver figures on hardstone base.

Armfelt moved to Finland in 1920. He worked in Helsinki at Oy Taito Ab from 1922 and as a technical director and designer at Kultakeskus Oy 1925-1937, at Kunniamerkkikeskus from 1940 and at Hopeatakomo from 1945. Hjalmar Armfelt died 7 July in 1959.

References

• Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, Personal and Historical Notes on Fabergé's Finnish workmasters and designers (page 41.) (1980)
• H.C. Bainbridge, Peter Carl Fabergé: Goldsmith and Jeweller to the Russian Imperial Court (1966)
• М.М. Постникова-Лосева, Н.Г.П. Платонова, Б.Л. Ульяноа, ЗОЛОТОЕ И СЕРЕБРЯНОЕ ДЕЛО XV-XX вв. (2003)
• Gerard Hill, G.G. Smorodinova and B.L. Ulyanova, Fabergé and the Russian master Goldsmiths (2008)
• Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, Fabergén suomalaiset mestarit (Fabergé´s Finnish masters) (2011), pp. 205-219.