The chronological arrangement of 1,772 comprehensive citations are translated and annotated in English. Exhibition and auction dates, as well as auction prices are included. ...a work of scholarly significance...comprehensive, not to say exhaustive, and is well presented and easy to use... a most valuable tool.--REFERENCE REVIEWS ...One is filled with awe at the dedication that must have been needed to compile this work. --GEM AND JEWELRY NEWS
Featuring the famous Imperial eggs, along with flowers, figurines, cigarette boxes, opera glasses, scent bottles and even bell pushes, this book examines today's great Faberge collections."
An incredible album of rare, recently discovered drawings from the Carl Faberge workshop in St. Petersburg is reproduced in its entirety. Over 1,000 pieces are illustrated, essential components of Faberge's oeuvre during a period considered to be one of the richest in terms of quality and design. These objects - produced primarily from 1911 to 1913 - are drawn to scale in pencil, pen and ink, nearly all of them beautifully filled in with watercolor. In addition to the album, there are illustrations of 40 objects found by the authors juxtaposed with their original drawings as well as contemporary photographs of Faberge's workshops. The text examines the pieces in both their social and artistic contexts including relevant source materials.
Think Faberge, and what comes to mind are images of fabulous, glittering jewelry, the mystery and allure of Europe's great royal courts and, of course, the magnificent Imperial Easter Eggs made for the Russian Tsars. Carl Faberge was, first and foremost, a goldsmith, and the exquisite objects that came out of the Faberge workshop at its peak represent the ultimate refinement of the goldsmith's art. Each piece was designed with the express purpose of bringing joy to its recipient. Accomplishments of the Faberge workshop were not limited to precious metals and lapidary work. Their enameling techniques consistently attained a subtlety adn brilliance of technique that had rarely been matched elsewhere - the work glows with richly colored enamels used with unrivaled virtuosity.
The first book to be dedicated to the British branch of Faberge, covering its fascinating history from its opening in 1903, to its closure in 1917. Royalty, Aristocrats, American heiresses, exiled Russian Grand Dukes, Randlords, Maharajas, Socialites and financiers with newly made fortunes flocked to Faberge in London to buy gifts for each other. This book is the first dedicated to the glittering history of Faberge's British branch, from its opening in 1903 to its closure in 1917. The Imperial Russian Goldsmith's London branch was the only one outside of Russia and its jewelled and enamelled contents were as popular there as they were in St. Petersburg or Moscow. Using previously unreferenced sources and a newly discovered archive of papers relating to Faberge in London, Kieran McCarthy studies the branch's structure, customers and exclusive stock. The most expensive sale made by Faberge in London, of a diamond tiara priced for £1400, cost one hundred times the annual wage of a scullery maid. It will be of interest to enthusiasts of the decorative arts, the social history of the Edwardian Golden Age and especially of European Royalty. Faberge's works were and continue to be intimately associated with the British Royal Family. For Violet Trefusis, daughter of King Edward VII's mistress Mrs. Keppel and lover of Vita Sackville-West, A Faberge cigarette case was the emblem of Royalty, as symbolical as the bookies cigar, or the ostler's straw. AUTHOR: Kieran McCarthy is a director of Wartski, the London Court Jewellers who specialises in the work of Carl Faberge. He is on the advisory board of the Faberge Museum in St. Petersburg, is a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths' and a fellow of the Gemmological Association. He has written and lectured extensively about Carl Faberge. He advises collectors and institutions on Faberge's work and recently revealed the rediscovery of one of the lost Imperial Faberge Easter Eggs. 191 colour, 86 b/w
Peter Carl Faberge, court jeweler to the czars, is a name synonymous with beauty, craftsmanship, and sumptuous excess. This exciting book features some of the best photographs ever made of Faberge objects. Over 350 illustrations, 80 in full color.
A rare look at the exquisite world of Russian treasures that lies beyond Fabergé. Imperial Russia evokes images of a vanished courts unparalleled splendor: magnificent tiaras, gem-encrusted necklaces, snuff boxes and other diamond-studded baubles of the tsars and tsarinas. During that time, jewelry symbolized power and wealth, and no one knew this better than the Romanovs. The era marked the high point of the Russian jewelers' art. Beginning with Catherine I's reign in 1725, in the century when women ruled Russia, until the Russian Revolution of 1917, the imperial capital's goldsmiths perfected their craft, and soon the quality of Russias jewelry equaled, if not surpassed, the best that Europes capitals could offer. Who created these jewels that helped make the Russian Court the richest in Europe? Hint: it wasn't Carl Fabergé. This is the first systematic survey in any language of all the leading jewelers and silver masters of Imperial Russia. The authors skillfully unfold for us the lives, histories, creations, and makers marks of the artisans whose jewels and silver masterworks bedazzled the tsars. The previously unheralded names include Pauzié, Bolin, Hahn, Koechli, Seftigen, Marshak, Morozov, Nicholls & Plincke, Grachev, Sazikov, and many others. The market for these exquisite masterworks is also explored, from its beginnings to today's auction world and collector demand. More than 600 stunning photos reacquaint the world with the master artisans and their creations.
