Fabergé is renowned for its iconic eggs, but those are far from the only pieces the Russian jewelry firm has produced. Under the direction of Peter Carl Fabergé, it served an illustrious clientele, and members of Russian royalty commissioned items that included tokens of love and friendship, or commemorated events.
“Fabergé Rediscovered,” a new exhibition in northwest Washington, DC, offers visitors a peek at some of the jeweler’s work. The venue is Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, which houses cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post’s extensive collection of fine art and decorative objects.
“Works by Fabergé were a natural extension of Post’s collection of Western European art,” says Hillwood’s chief curator, Dr. Wilfried Zeisler. “She liked pieces with great provenance, but also pieces related to her interest in craftsmanship and certain materials — she loved goldwork, enameling and hard stone,” all of which appear in the Fabergé pieces.
‘A broader context’
Although they’re just a small part of Post’s Russian imperial collection — which includes 6,000 works of art — the 90 Fabergé pieces show the range of what the firm was able to do, says Zeisler. Rounding out the exhibition are “carefully selected loans from international collections that are strongly related or connected to our objects and help tell the story we want to share with the public.”
A small section displaying the work of some of the company’s Russian and foreign competitors is intended “to put Fabergé in a broader context of 19th-century and early 20th-century jewelry and goldsmithing,” Zeisler explains.
Craft over innovation
The curator describes Fabergé as “a fantastic Russian jeweler who was very successful, known for his wonderful eggs and other objects. He worked in traditional French 18th-century style, revisiting it to create amazing objects.”
But the firm was not the only one producing beautiful items at that time, Zeisler continues. “A lot of other firms in Russia and abroad were doing great pieces as well, and sometimes in a more modern style.”
One of the facts distinguishing Fabergé was that he surrounded himself with highly skilled artisans and created beautifully made objects, the curator states, although they were “not always the most innovative in design.” Rather than forging new trends, he followed the design motifs of the time to feed the needs of the firm’s prestigious clients.
What set Fabergé apart were the creations he made for the Russian royal family — especially the imperial Easter eggs, Zeisler says.
“It’s why people are so fascinated by them,” he remarks. “Each egg tells so much, not only about jewelry, but Easter, tradition, family stories and a history of an Empire that disappeared. It allows you to be a part of that when you collect such a piece.”
“Fabergé Rediscovered” is on view at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington through January 13, 2019. hillwoodmuseum.org
Image: Shutterstock; Getty/Eric Brissaud; Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/Alex BraunArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - August 2018. To subscribe click here.