Carl Faberge and his masterpieces. Faberge Easter eggs

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

"Faberge Eggs" - a household name. This symbol of luxury, once sold by the Bolsheviks for next to nothing, today costs fabulous money. Private collectors pay millions for the right to own famous treasures.

Origin

It can be said that Carl Faberge is a hereditary jeweler. His father opened his own company in St. Petersburg in 1842. The family came to Russia from Estonia, and the ancestors of the famous jeweler were French Huguenots who fled to Germany from the unfriendly policy of the Sun King (Louis XIV). Faberge's father's workshop did nothing outstanding: brooches and tiaras, generously studded with precious stones, were in constant demand among representatives of the we althy merchant class, but that was all.

Gustav tried his best to educate and provide for his first child, so Carl Faberge studied at the most prestigious educational institutions in Europe, studied jewelry in Frankfurt, and then returned to Russia and at the age of 24 headed the family business. Some researchers claim that he was extremely gifted in jewelry, others are sure that the outstanding talent of Karl Gustavovich was purelyadministrative. But then the manager, as they would say now, he was from God.

Takeoff

When an art and industrial exhibition took place in Moscow in 1882, Faberge was lucky: the products of the enterprise attracted the attention of Alexander III and his wife. From that moment on, fruitful cooperation between the jeweler and the monarch's family began. It must be said that the emperor gave away expensive jewelry not only in kilograms but in tons. It was required to present gifts during official visits to the rulers of other countries, and skillfully made sets, caskets, jewelry and various trinkets with the Faberge brand were suitable here.

Soon the company received international recognition, winning the exhibition in Nuremberg (1885). The judges chose items that replicate the gold jewelry of the Scythians. In the same year, the first Faberge egg was made for the Romanovs.

The Emperor's Family

The Empress favored the jeweler since 1884: she was presented with a souvenir depicting a golden basket with pearl lilies of the valley. Maria Fyodorovna found the thing charming, and we can say that thanks to this, Carl Faberge opened a new direction in the activity of the enterprise. Since then, a variety of fantasies, embodied in stone, gold or bone, have become his signature feature.

I must say that the famous jeweler most of all valued the artistic side of the issue, and not all of his products were precious. Various useful little things were made at his enterprises, such as handles for umbrellas, bells or stone seals. According to some sources, the company even made copper utensils, and Faberge's silver sets were indeed famous throughout Russia (and not only).

Art side

The jeweler made it fashionable to use not only precious stones and metals, but also simpler materials: crystal, bone, malachite, jasper, etc. At first, the company's staff did not have enough qualified personnel to implement all the ideas that Carl Faberge was filled with. The works had to be ordered from the Ural masters. But gradually many talented jewelers, engravers and artists became full-time employees of the enterprise. Among them were masters of the highest class, Faberge allowed them to put their own brand on their works.

The working day of the employees was just a slave: they had to work from seven in the morning to eleven in the evening, and on Sundays until one in the afternoon. Surprisingly, at the same time, Carl Faberge enjoyed the favor of his subordinates: they did not leave him, did not organize competing firms, although many had such an opportunity. I must say that the salary of the famous jeweler paid generously, he did not leave old and sick workers to their fate, he did not skimp on praise.

The firm had its own recognizable style. Another feature was a variety of enamels that delight the eye with more than 120 shades, and the technique of the so-called guilloche enamel has not been reproduced.

Imperial collection eggs

The most widely known and posthumous fame of KarlFaberge received thanks to the Easter eggs that his company made every year for the imperial family. The beginning of the tradition was laid by chance. The Tsar asked the jeweler to make a surprise gift for Her Majesty Maria Feodorovna. Faberge was given freedom of choice - this is how the first egg of the imperial collection appeared.

The first sample was a golden egg covered with white enamel on the outside. Inside it was placed a yolk and a colored chicken. She, in turn, also had a secret: inside the bird was a tiny imperial crown and a ruby egg, which was subsequently lost.

The idea was not original: such souvenirs are still kept among the exhibits of several European museums (maybe Carl Faberge drew inspiration there).

The Empress was delighted with the gift. From that moment on, Faberge had to present a new masterpiece to the court every year, but with two conditions. Firstly, an egg with a secret could only be made for the royal family. Secondly, it had to be absolutely original.

When Nicholas II came to the throne, the tradition continued, but now Faberge created two souvenirs: for the wife of the monarch and for the dowager empress.

Bypassing the royal ban

Many years later it became known that the jeweler nevertheless circumvented the prohibition of his august patron: seven eggs, very similar to the originals from the royal treasury, turned out to be the property of the wife of a certain gold miner. What was to blame - the fabulous we alth of Mrs. Kelch or her lovely eyes - is not known for certain. In addition to them, there are at least eight more Faberge eggs made by private orders. The fact that this fact is not documented is an excellent cover for scammers.

The house of Carl Faberge spent almost a year to make each masterpiece. The most talented artists were involved in creating sketches, and the look of the future gift was kept in the strictest confidence.

In the process of making the royal surprise, Faberge did not pursue profit: in different years, Easter eggs cost the emperor different amounts and were made from different, sometimes completely inexpensive materials. So, in 1916, the monarch received a steel egg, for which four cartridges served as a stand.

The owners of the preserved treasures

They talk about 50, 52 and even 56 copies that Faberge made for the imperial family, but some of them were lost. The Bolsheviks, having come to power, not only robbed the imperial treasury, but also sold it for nothing. The whereabouts of only 46 of them are now known.

In 2013, Russian oligarch Maxim Vekselberg made a truly royal gift to the residents of St. Petersburg. He bought the world's largest collection of eggs from the Forbes family and opened the Faberge Museum, where 9 out of 15 copies can be seen by everyone. Another 10 masterpieces are among the exhibits of the Armory, 13 are in museums in the United States of America, 2 in Switzerland and 13 more are scattered in private collections (several belong to the Queen of Great Britain).

Another Faberge Museum is open in Baden-Baden, where eggs made in 1917 are displayed: from Karelian birch (intended for the Dowager Empress) and glass-crystal (for Alexandra Feodorovna). The authenticity of the latter raises some doubts, since the same was found in the storerooms of the Mineralogical Museum in Moscow, but the owner of the masterpiece, another Russian billionaire Alexander Ivanov, assures that he is the owner of the original.