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| forbes.com |
Carl Fabergé was born in 1846, four years after his father, Gustav, opened a jewelry business in a St. Petersburg basement.
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| The Art of Carl Fabergé | Kenneth Snowman | 1952 |
Above is a bracelet by Gustav Fabergé. While Gustav's designs were not remarkable, Gustav was successful enough to send Carl to good schools in Russia, and artistic training in Dresden (where Gustav eventually retired) and Frankfurt. Carl also visited England long enough to learn English.
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| Louis XV snuff box | christies.com |
Gustav Fabergé then treated Carl to a Grand Tour of Europe, which included exposure to Florentine enamelers and goldsmiths, and to the treasures of the Louvre and Versailles, where Carl was bewitched by all that was Baroque.
In 1870, Gustav retired and Carl Fabergé, age 24, took over the business. 1870 also happened to be the year that the Tsar's favored jeweler closed his doors, leaving an opening for someone new.
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| forbes.com |
Carl Fabergé almost immediately moved the family business to a ground floor across the street. Then, in consultation with his father and brother, Agathon (who remained one of his best designers), Fabergé decided to include jeweled objets d'art in the company line. This momentous decision seems like a no-brainer in retrospect, but at the time, the production of such pieces had the potential to be less profitable.
Above is the first Fabergé Easter Egg, made in 1884 by Carl and Agathon. A white enameled egg opens to reveal a golden yolk, which in turn reveals a golden hen. A ruby heart dangles inside the hen. The egg was an Easter gift from Tsar Alexander III to his wife, Marie Feodorovna, and it must have caused much delight. For more than 30 years, Fabergé made Easter eggs for Marie Feodorovna and her daughter-in-law, Tsarina Alexandra, wife of Nicholas II.
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| alexanderpalace.com |
Marie Feodorovna's sister was also named Alexandra — Queen Alexandra of England. Doubtlessly Tsarina Marie communicated her delight to her sister, and soon Fabergé was supplying eggs for King Edward VII of England to give to Queen Alexandra as birthday gifts. Above are the two sisters in old age, Queen Alexandra on the left and Dowager Empress Marie on the right.
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| wired.com |
Incidentally, the movie Hugo has drawn attention to the amazing mechanical toys of the 18th and 19th centuries, toys that also fascinated Fabergé. When he was studying in Dresden, he often visited such toys at the Green Vaults Museum.
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| The Art of Carl Fabergé | Kenneth Snowman | 1952 |
Fabergé created a number of moving objets d'art, including this toy of Catherine the Great in a sedan chair. When the chair is wound with a key, the standing figures move smoothly in unison. We know that this was created for the French or English market because it is signed "FABERGE" in English.
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