Fabergé: Jeweler to the Tsars

A Front Row Seat to Fabulous! The House of Fabergé will be celebrated in a new exhibition at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Fabergé: Jeweler to the Tsars will be on for viewing from June 20 through September 27, 2015. Drawn from the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, will showcase Peter Carl Fabergé’s fine craftsmanship pieces once belonging to the Russian Imperial Family. Most pieces were made entirely by hand and made the seemingly mundane look like miniature works of art. Most recognized are the dazzling Easter eggs, but the vast majority of his works were never repeated and included flower ornaments, cigarette cases, photo frames, clocks and animal sculptures. The patronage of the Romanov Dynasty and close ties among the British were inextricably linked to Faberge’s success, as his works were often exchanged by them as personal gifts.

The Imperial Tsesarevich Easter Egg of 1912, which will be on view at OKCMOA, was a gift to Empress Alexandra from her husband, Emperor Nicholas II. The egg commemorates their son, Alexsei, who nearly died the previous year of hemophilia. For the shell, craftsmen joined six wedges of highly prized lapis lazuli and hid the seams with an elaborate gold filigree encasement. Inside the egg, a diamond encrusted Romanov family crest frames a two-sided portrait of the young child.

These objects were associated with refinement and luxury because the House of Fabergé was known for accepting nothing less than perfection as well as for being business savvy. Beyond the elegant showrooms in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, hundreds of the country’s finest goldsmiths, enamellers, stone carvers, gem cutters and jewelers were at work creating innovative and complex designs that could not be readily imitated. (Source http://www.okcmoa.com/see/exhibitions/faberge/)