The Faberge Eggs: A paradigm of wealth and power (original) (raw)
The Fabergé Eggs carry international fame as a symbol of tragedy, wealth and power. The first Fabergé Egg created for the House of Romanov or the Russian royal family was in 1885 when Emperor Alexander III commissioned an Easter Egg as a present for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. That gave the beginning to a series of 50 Imperial Easter Eggs, which ended with the forced abdication of Nicholas II in 1917. Each Egg was uniquely crafted for each Easter season, following the artistic trends of the day or a notable event. In most cases, the Tsar would leave the decision to be made by the workmasters, with the sole requirement of each egg to have a surprise inside. The eggs are probably the best known and preserved artefact from the Romanov era, and are still a figure in contemporary mainstream stage. In this paper, the Imperial Coronation Egg will be taken as an example of the master craftsmanship of the Fabergé House. To begin with, I will explore the symbolism laying behind the egg as an object over different cultures. Furthermore, I will examine the materials and techniques used to create the egg, and connect them to the symbolism within Imperial Russia and Eastern Orthodoxy Church. Lastly, I will connect the previous examinations with the current owner of the Imperial Coronation Egg and 8 others, Viktor Vekselberg, and how the ownership and hunt for the most precious Easter eggs is a paradigm of power and wealth
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Fabergé: The Imperial “Empire” Egg of 1902. New York, 2017.
2017
THIS IS DEMO-VERSION OF THE BOOK If you would like to acquire the book, please contact - academicien@yandex.com Almost no other works of decorative art captivate the world as do the Imperial Easter Eggs created by the legendary court jeweler Carl Fabergé. Their beauty, their artistry, and their historic relevance place them in a class of their own in the world of jewelry and objets de vertu. 50 Imperial easter eggs were presented between 1885 and 1916, and, seven have been listed as missing – until now. Fabergé: The Imperial “Empire” Egg of 1902 is the first scholarly work to address the subject of a single egg. No other egg has been as completely documented and as rigorously examined as this extraordinary rediscovery. New documentation, expert opinions, and scientific tests confirm that the lost egg of 1902 has been rediscovered in a private collection in the United States. This important new work sets the standard by which other publications will be judged regarding scholarship on the Imperial Eggs. Articles by experts from Russia and the United States join to present all the relevant documentation concerning the Imperial Egg of 1902 from its original bill to its last mention in post-revolutionary inventories, and information about its whereabouts since its first notice in the west by specialists in the 1990’s. This important monograph will be useful to researchers, collectors, and institutions alike for its revelation of the rediscovery of the lost Imperial egg of 1902 – The Empire Egg. ISBN: 978-1-5323-4228-8
The tsars of Bulgaria: collections and relics
Unlike many European countries Bulgaria, although a former kingdom, has no palace-museums. This paper examines the reasons for the lack of permanent royal exhibits in Bulgaria, not only in former palaces but also in Bulgarian museums in general. The communist party, which governed the country for forty-five years, deeply affected the functioning of the state, with the result that contemporary Bulgarian museums are places where past influences can still be witnessed. This review of some of the little-known events and processes that influenced the fate of the Bulgarian tsars’ collections aims to promote a better understanding of the country’s cultural affairs, at a time when Bulgaria has become the latest member of the European Union
MEDITATIONS ON A UKRAINIAN EASTER EGG
Writing Pictures: Case Studies in Photographic Criticism, 2012
First Place Winning Essay, Reva and David Logan Award for Distinguished New Writing in Photography (1983, revised 1991)
Lalique, Fabergé, and a special Russian-Dutch connection
This article was presented at the 170th birthday conference of famous jeweller Carl Faberge in St. Petersburg at Friday October 7th 2016. It describes the finding and whereabouts of the jewellery of French Artist Rene Lalique in Russia around 1900 and the comparisons with Faberge.
Boxes, Frames and Eggs: Portrait Miniatures as ‘Portable Dynasties’ within European Court Culture
Portrait Miniatures: Artists, Functions, Techniques, and Collections. International Symposium, The Tansey Miniatures Foundation, Celle Castle, 11–13 October 2024
The employment of portrait miniatures as a genealogical tool in European court culture has its origins in their illustrative use for elaborately designed royal family trees, be it in sculpture, painting, or print. Transferred into sumptuously designed compilations of valued family members or important ancestors and sovereigns such galleries en miniature served as means to create historicity as well as dynastic legitimation. Furthermore, they could connote both private and public aspects, from familial ties to dynastic and political propaganda. The handling therefore could be connected to a very private as well as a public display but also depended to a large extent on the material nature of these objects. Framed in tableaus, miniatures could be openly displayed to visitors as part of royal collections. On the other hand, they could be arranged in portable assemblages such as leather-bound albums for private use. The most striking compilation, however, would be the inset in precious objects of virtue such as the golden snuff boxes known from the French and Habsburg courts, or the famous Fabergé eggs commissioned by the Russian Tsars. Gifted to family members or important allies, these objects were an ostentatious display of wealth and a distinct statement of the dynastic heritage. The paper will discuss the various modes of settings as well as the multiple objectives of agency and handling of these ‘portable dynasties’ on the basis of selected objects from European courts.
Мистецтвознавчі записки, 2017
Ornamentation of ceramics and Easter eggs in the Poltava government of the century: a comparative characteristic Purpose of Article. The research is connected to a comparative analysis of the Easter eggs, clay bowls, and plates ornamentation reflection of the transformation processes that took place during the XIX century in a separate segment of the folk culture among the inhabitants of the Poltava government. The methodology of the research is to apply comparative and historicallogical methods. There is used the synergetic scientific approach to the cultural phenomena research. The scientific novelty consists in broadening the notions about the realities and the causes of the transformational processes in the ceramics and Easter eggs ornamentation of Left-Bank Ukraine. Conclusions. There are analyzed the data on products ornamentation of two branches of folk decorative and applied art: pottery (by Ivan Zaretsky) and Easter eggs (by Serhii Kulzhinsky). The conclusion is drawn about the similarity of the visual manifestations of processes occurring in different settlements of the Poltava government during, at least, the last third of the XIX century. It was found out that the specificity of used ornamental elements and composite solutions was dictated by technological moments and the degree of influence on these folk art types of market regulators.
Sprawozdania Archeologiczne , 2023
Szmoniewski B.S. and Stănică A.D. 2023. From Kyiv to Pereyaslavets (Πρεσθλαβίτζα). The early medieval stone egg imitations and glazed egg-shaped rattles from Dobrudja, Romania. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 75/1, 371-403. This article focuses on the finds of glazed egg-shaped rattles as well as on egg imitations of chalk and of Roman bricks discovered in Dobrudja and in nearby Varna. It is assumed that they were used in magical and religious rituals connected with fertility and vegetation cults, as well as in apotropaic and healing rites. Chalk imitations dated prevailingly to the 10 th century could be relics of a local Christian-pagan syncretism. Glazed items were most probably imports from Kyiv workshops in Kyivan Rus'. The latter should be associated with the presence of people engaging in military operations led by Rus' princes, namely mercenaries and even more probably, with merchants travelling along the waterways leading from the Varangians to the Greeks. This route was most intensively exploited in the time from the middle of the 10 th to the middle of the of 11 th century, which correlates with the chronology of the layers and graves where these glazed eggs were discovered, their dating points mainly being to the 11 th century.
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