Fabergé

In 1882 Peter Carl Fabergé took over his fathers very ordinary jewellery business. Together with his brother Agathon, he quickly transformed it into an international phenomenon. The success of the two brothers was changing the nature of the business. Out went the then fashionable style where diamonds prevailed. In came the design-led artist-jewelle... r with a penchant for colour through both stones and reviving the lost art of enamelling. They added objets deluxe to their repertoire, including objets de fantaisie such as the Imperial Easter Eggs, now regarded as pinnacles of the goldsmiths art. Today these are treasured in some of the worlds leading museums and private collections. The craftsmanship of all their creations was of the very finest standard. This formula of design and craftsmanship made Fabergé irresistible and the ultimate objects to own, as well as the gift of choice. View of the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, St Petersburg by J M Charlemagne, 1850s The ancestors of the current Fabergé family lived in the Picardy region of northern France. The familys name was then Favri and they were Huguenots (French Protestants) in a predominantly Catholic country. When Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which gave Huguenots protection, they fled and headed northeast. Over the years the familys name changed from Favri through Favry, Fabri, Fabrier to Faberge. By 1800 an artisan called Pierre Favry (later Faberge), had settled in Prnu in the Baltic province of Livonia (now Estonia). Gustav Faberge (born in 1814) went to St Petersburg, the capital of Russia, to train as a goldsmith. Initially he worked under Andreas Spiegel, a gold box specialist, but later joined the celebrated firm of Keibel, goldsmiths and jewellers to the Emperors of Russia. Gustav Fabergé retired to Dresden with his family, leaving the business in the hands of managers.Peter Carl Fabergé undertook a course at the Dresden Arts and Crafts School and was a regular visitor to the Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault), the museum founded by ...Read More