Carl Faberge

Carl Faberge was the son of a Swiss Immigrant to Russia, and was the favourite jeweller of every court in Europe during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centures. He captured the imagination of Russia’s ruling family the Romanoffs. The story goes that Faberge approached Tsar Alexander III and offered to make a suprise easter egg for the Tsarina which would be a delightful gift on Easter morning. Imagine the delight of the Tsarina when she opened her egg and found a tiny gold hen nestling inside. The Tsar was so take with the idea that he commissioned Faberge to repeat the exercise the following year. Thus began the series of Imperial Eggs which now grace some of the finest art collection in the world.

Faberge made one Easter egg each year for eleven years for Alexander III, and his son Nicholas II, who extended his generosity to include his mother the Dowager Empress as well as his wife. Faberge’s earliest decorated eggs are derived quite clearly from the French designs but his exquisite craftsmanship shines through from the first. His later creations became more individual, with tiny clocks, baskets of flowers, painted miniatures depicting court scenes, and even a translucent egg containing a tiny tableau of the Resurrection. He used coloured golds and silver, precious and semi-precious stones. His greatest contribution to the craft of the goldsmith was his enamelling technique. Carl Faberge’s workshop prospered until it was closed by the Bolsheviks following the 1917 Revolution. Faberge escaped with his family to Europe where he died.