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Have you ever been captivated by the miniatures in pieces of art? Some masterpieces seem to be pure perfection. This is especially sad to learn that Russia had riches but lost them in hard times for the country. There were so many perturbations in the history of Russia that it is hard to determine which one was the most devastating. But nobody will argue that Russian revolution of 1917 was the most ruining event, which had a crucial effect upon the culture of Great Russian Empire. Many unique collections of valuable items which were cherished in the course of centuries by noble families just vanished from the country within several months. Their houses were nationalized by Bolsheviks, the palaces were ransacked. The Western market was oversaturated with antiques from revolutionary Russia at that time
Fantastic items were dissolved in private collections abroad. Not able to put up with new regime, many Russians emigrated and took their valuable collections with them. Some items which were lost by Russia in those days still present value of universal importance. People collecting antiques are ready to pay millions at the auction for such things. Jeweled Faberge eggs are among these treasures, for instance Rothshild’s Faberge Egg was auctioned at Christie’s and was sold for ￡ 8,9 million. Russian imperial art is widely presented in the collection of the Hillwood Estate, Museum&Gardens, which is located in Washington, DC. Alongside with 80 Faberge pieces, one can find wonderfully decorated Imperial Catherine the Great Easter Egg.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts contains a precious item – an egg made in rococo style, which was presented by last Russian Tsar Nickolas II to his wife. It dates back to 1903 and was created to mark the celebration of St. Petersburg foundation and is called Peter the Great Egg.
The special antiquarian style was formed in Russia in the 18th-19th century. It combined the style of ancient Russia, bright colors of enamel art, classic elements of icon writing. Sometimes the features of foreign school were borrowed too.
The pieces of art of Russian empire are presented in museums and private collections in different parts of the United States. Walters Art Museum in Baltimore was founded by the person who visited in the 1900 St Petersburg and got acquainted with Faberge collection.
Being in St Petersburg American collector Henry Walters found Russian antiques so amazing that acquired many pieces for his collection.
Like nowadays there was Faberge shop in Petersburg at Bolshaya Morskaya, 24 then which sold many wonderful pieces then. You can see the interior of the shop. There were other Faberge shops as well.
Peter Carl Fabergé known as Carl Gustavovich Fabergé (Russian: Карл Густавович Фаберже, May 30 1846 – September 24 1920) was a Russian jeweler, best known for the famous Fabergé eggs, made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials.
He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia to the jeweller Gustav Faberge and his Danish wife Charlotte Jungstedt. Gustav Fabergé’s father’s family were Huguenots, originally from La Bouteille, Picardie, who fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, initially to Germany near Berlin, then in 1800 to the Baltic province of Livonia, then part of Russia.
Carl and his younger brother Agaton were a sensation at the Pan-Russian Exhibition held in Moscow in 1882. Three years later, Czar Alexander III appointed him an official Court Supplier, as a reward for making him a splendid Easter egg to give to his wife. Thereafter, Fabergé made an egg each year for the Czar to give to the Empress Maria. The next Czar, Nicholas II, ordered two eggs each year, one for his mother and one for his own wife, Alexandra, a practice which continued from 1885 to 1917.
He became the Czar’s Court Goldsmith in 1885. The Imperial Easter eggs were a sideline; Fabergé made many more objects ranging from silver tableware to fine jewelry. Fabergé’s company became the largest in Russia, with 500 employees and branches in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, Kiev and London. It produced some 150,000 objects between 1882 and 1917. In 1897 the Swedish court appointed Fabergé Court Goldsmith. In 1900 his work represented Russia at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris.
In 1917, amidst the chaos of the October Revolution, he sold his shares in the company to his employees and fled Russia. He went first to Finland, with assistance from the British Embassy, and then to Wiesbaden, Germany making stops in Riga, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg. Fabergé and his wife moved to Bellevue Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland. When he died, he was buried beside his wife Augusta in the Cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes, France.
Fabergé had four sons: Eugéne (1874-1960), Agathon (1876-1951), Alexander (1877-1952) and Nicholas (1884-1939). Agathon fled to Finland via Terijoki and Viipuri. He settled in Kulosaari in Helsinki and studied philately and died there. He and his wife Maria are buried at the Orthodox cemetery of Helsinki. Their son Oleg Fabergé (1923-1993) is also buried there.
His sons Eugené Fabergé and Alexander Fabergé founded the successor of Fabergé Co.; as of 1989 it was owned by the global cosmetics company Unilever and the jewelry license was given to the jeweller Victor Mayer. The Fabergé work master continues the legacy of the famous brand and is its sole legal successor. Sarah Fabergé and Tatiana Fabergé are the last surviving descendants of Peter Carl.
In 2007 the brands and trademarks associated with the Fabergé name were acquired from Unilever by a consortium of investment partners advised by Pallinghurst Resources LLP[1] (Pallinghurst Resources LLP is headed by ex-BHP Billiton CEO Brian Gilbertson and acts as investment adviser to a number of investors).
Fabergé is currently being re-established as a pre-eminent luxury brand. The Fabergé brand will be relaunched during 2009 [2], in conjunction with the launch of a newly rationalised and revised set of product lines, which will include fine jewelery and precious stones[3].
These decorative dishes date back to the 17th century. Peter the Great and his family are portrayed on the dish, which is of special interest to many Russian experts when they visit the museum.
The items tell us about history which is not written in the text-books. For instance, vase for aroma mix was made by French jeweler who lived in Russia at the second half of the 18th century. According to the legend, Catherine the Great presented it to her lover, Earl Grigory Orlov after she started to reign in Russia. There is even his monogram on the cover held by two angels.
Russian try to return back now most of the items lost at that period. For instance, the collection of Faberge eggs Malcolm Forbes collected was acquired by Victor Vekselberg and brought it back to Russia. The sum of the deal was estimated to be between 90 to 120 million dollars. It should be mentioned too that antiquarian business is very widespread in Russia as the history is rich and extraordinary. Antiquarian shops with marvelous items can be found in every ancient city.
Going back to Faberge collection, it should be said that the major part of Russian collection can be seen in the Kremlin Armoury, the oldest Moscow museum on the territory of the Kremlin.
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