Faberge eggs are one of the most expensive jewelry in the world. Truly a royal gift. The first Faberge egg appeared in 1885. It was commissioned by the Russian Emperor Alexander III as an Easter gift for his wife Maria Feodorovna. And Carl Faberge and the jewelers of his firm took up the creation of this gift.
Carl Faberge was born in Russia, in St. Petersburg. He was born in 1846 in the family of a German from Estonia, Gustav Faberge, and the daughter of a Danish artist, Charlotte Jungstedt. Back in 1842, his father founded a jewelry company in St. Petersburg, Karl also studied jewelry from a young age and at the age of 24 headed his father's company. And in 1882, at the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition in Moscow, the products of his company attracted the attention of Emperor Alexander III, the Faberge company began to receive orders from the imperial court.
Faberge products were also famous in Europe, so in Paris, Carl Faberge was awarded the title of "Master of the Paris Jewelers Guild". After the revolution, Fabergé closed his firm and emigrated to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he died in 1920. His sons in 1923 founded the Faberge & Co. firm in Paris.
Carl Faberge produced a variety of jewelry, but it was jewelry eggs that brought him fame, known throughout the world as Faberge eggs.
By the way, the first egg he created in 1885 had its own prototype. In the 18th century, jewelry Easter eggs were made with a surprise hen inside, and in the hen itself there was a crown, and in the crown - a ring. This is exactly what was the first egg created by Faberge in 1885. An egg presented to Empress Maria Feodorovna, who, like Carl Faberge himself, had Danish roots. After all, one of three similar eggs preserved from the 18th century is exactly the same and is stored in the Danish castle of Rosenborg (Copenhagen).
Later, Faberge made a number of Easter eggs. In total, there are 71 single Faberge eggs in the world. And 54 of them were imperial. Alexander III became the founder of the tradition, on Easter he gave his wife Maria Feodorovna Faberge eggs, after his death this tradition was continued by his son, Nicholas II. He gave Faberge Easter eggs to both his wife Alexandra Feodorovna and his mother, Maria Feodorovna.
There are also about 15 eggs made by Faberge for private individuals. And if the imperial eggs were new each time, each time with a new surprise inside, and the company began to manufacture them a year before the next Easter, then Faberge eggs for individuals often copy the plots of the imperial ones. So 7 eggs belonging to the Kelch family are known.
Entrepreneur, gold miner, Alexander Kelkh, like the emperor, gave his wife Faberge eggs for Easter. The first egg of Kelch, which is called "Kelch's Hen", copies the plot of the first imperial "Chicken" egg. But soon the Kelchs separated, and their financial situation worsened. They were no longer interested in Faberge eggs. Also, non-imperial Faberge eggs were made to order for Felix Yusupov (a representative of a fairly wealthy noble family, in the future a murderer so valued by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Rasputin), nephew of Alfred Nobel, the Rothschilds, the Duchess of Marlborough.
Imperial Faberge eggs had quite a variety of plots: they could be clock eggs or eggs with various figures inside, the eggs themselves could also contain various miniatures as a surprise, for example, there was an “Egg with rotating miniatures”, inside which there were 12 miniatures with images of places memorable for the emperor. The most expensive of the Faberge eggs paid for by the Romanovs is the Winter egg. It was made of diamonds, crystal and opals. The surprise of this egg was a basket of anemones.
During the years of the revolution, some of the Faberge eggs were lost, most of them were transported to the Kremlin, where they were kept until 1930. In 1930, the sale of many items that undoubtedly constituted the Russian cultural heritage began, due to the lack of financial resources from the Soviet authorities. Many Fabergé eggs were also sold. Many of them were bought by Armand Hammer and Emmanuel Snowman Wartsky.
Forbes was also an ardent collector of Faberge eggs. His collection consisted of 11 imperial and 4 private Faberge eggs. In 2004, this collection was put up for auction, before which it was completely bought out by the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. So some of the Faberge eggs returned to their homeland.
Today in Russia, Faberge eggs can be seen in the Armory (10 pieces), the Vekselberg collection, the Russian National Museum and the Mineralogical Museum. A. E. Fersman RAS.
Many of the Faberge eggs are in various collections in the United States. Several pieces of these miniature treasures are present in the collections of the English Queen Elizabeth II, Albert Prince of Monaco.
Each of the Faberge eggs has its own destiny, its own story. Only one of the Faberge eggs "Georgievsky" was able to leave revolutionary Russia, along with its rightful owner, Empress Maria Feodorovna, mother of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II.
The "George" egg was created in 1915, after Nicholas II received the "Order of St. George" award. Previously, this award was awarded to his son Alexei, for his visits to the front line. Nicholas II ordered this egg especially for his mother. His portrait was a surprise. Maria Feodorovna warmly thanked her son for the gift and wrote:
“I kiss you three times and thank you with all my heart for your sweet card and a lovely egg with miniatures, the good Faberge brought it himself. Amazingly beautiful. It's very sad not to be together. From the bottom of my heart I wish you, my dear dear Nicky, all the best and all the best and success in everything. Your dearly loving old Mother."
It cannot be argued that it was Carl Faberge himself who created all the eggs. After all, as soon as a new order was received, a whole team of the firm's jewelers immediately began to work on it. The names of many of them have been preserved. This is August Holstrom, and Henrik Wigstrom, and Eric Collin. And Mikhail Perkhin, who worked on the creation of Kelch eggs.
But besides genuine Faberge eggs, their numerous fakes are also known, which sometimes in their elegance are in no way inferior to the originals. So in the mid-1990s, the Metropolitan Museum (New York, USA) hosted an entire exhibition dedicated to fake Faberge eggs.
Since 1937, the Faberge brand has not been owned by the descendants of Carl Faberge himself, who sold it to the American Samuel Rubin. In the 20th century, under this brand, a wide variety of goods were produced: from perfumes and clothing to movies. And in 2009, the Faberge jewelry house appeared, which is owned by South African businessman Brian Gilbertson. In 2007, he acquired all rights to the brand. In 2011, Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg tried to buy the Faberge brand, but failed.
Such is the history of the most famous, most luxurious, most fabulous and most expensive Easter eggs.
