Comprehensive history of the 50 extravagant baubles created between
1885 and 1917 as Easter gifts for the Russian royal family.It was a
combination of luck and skill, writes Faber (Stradivari's Genius,
2005, etc.), that enabled Carl Faberge, one of many local artisans
catering to the turn-of-the-century St. Petersburg aristocracy, to
become "Jeweller to the Court" and creator of the elegant eggs
synonymous with the prewar gilded era. In 1885, czarina Marie
Fedorovna purchased Faberge cufflinks at a jewelry expo; that same
year, Alexander III commissioned the first Faberge Easter egg for
his wife. The czarina was delighted with the exquisite gift, which
contained a golden yoke, a miniature imperial crown in diamonds and
a ruby pendant. A tradition was born that two generations of czars
would maintain for three decades. The eggs displayed astonishing
craftsmanship and attention to detail, qualities that became
Faberge hallmarks and resulted in the family-owned firm becoming
the largest jewelry supplier in the world. It was their connection
to the Romanovs, though, that marked the 50 imperial eggs as tokens
of history. The years in which they were given saw ever-increasing
strife and tragedy. As Russia devolved into poverty and hurtled
toward revolution, the czar's regime displayed much pomp but little
concern for the welfare of his people. The eggs became a symbol of
ostentatious wealth with little utilitarian purpose; each year they
grew more elaborate and personalized, thus providing a priceless
glance into the lives of the doomed royal family. After the
abdication of Nicholas II and the subsequent execution of the
former czar, his wife and children in 1918, the eggs were seized
and dispersed. By 1930, more than a dozen had emerged in the hands
of private investors in the West; they have since been bought and
sold by a variety of collectors, including Armand Hammer and
Malcolm Forbes. In 2004, in a great show of nationalism, Russian
billionaire Viktor Vekselberg purchased Forbes's entire Faberge
collection for more than $90 million, reinforcing the Faberge brand
and its importance to Russian history. Surprisingly fascinating.
(Kirkus Reviews)
This is the story of Faberge's Imperial Easter eggs - of their
maker, of the tsars who commissioned them, of the middlemen who
sold them and of the collectors who fell in love with them. It's a
story of meticulous craftsmanship and unimaginable wealth, of lucky
escapes and mysterious disappearances, and ultimately of greed,
tragedy and devotion. Moreover, it is a story that mirrors the
history of twentieth-century Russia - a satisfying arc that sees
eggs made for the tsars, sold by Stalin, bought by Americans and
now, finally, returned to post-communist Russia. There is also an
intriguing element of mystery surrounding the masterpieces. Of the
fifty 'Tsar Imperial' eggs known to have been made, eight are
currently unaccounted for, providing endless scope for speculation
and forgeries. This is the first book to tell the complete history
of the eggs, encompassing the love and opulence in which they were
conceived, the war and revolution that scattered them, and the
collectors who preserved them.
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