FROM THE HEN EGG TO DYING OF A BROKEN HEART

To commemorate 100 years since Peter Carl Fabergé passed away, Fabergé has crafted an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind egg objet. Handcrafted in 18k yellow gold, and weighing an astonishing 10kg, this unique objet takes inspiration from the first-ever Imperial egg, the 1885 Hen Egg, as well as the 1887 Third Imperial Egg. The Centenary Egg, set to be a future heirloom, features gold fluting, a technique for which Peter Carl Fabergé was renowned, and which featured heavily in his early works of art. The egg is also set with spectacular Gemfields Mozambican rubies and Zambian emeralds, giving it a contemporary and colorful twist and complementing the white diamonds which line its circumference.

Let’s look at the illustrious history of Fabergé and the creator of the famous Easter Eggs:

Peter Carl Fabergé, also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé ( 30 May 1846 – 24 September 1920), was a Russian jeweller best known for the famous Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials.

Peter Carl Faberge was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to the Baltic German jeweller Gustav Fabergé .

In 1864 he embarked upon a Grand Tour of Europe. He received tuition from respected goldsmiths in Germany, France and England, attended a course at Schloss’s Commercial College in Paris, and viewed the objects in the galleries of Europe’s leading museums.

In 1872 at the age of 26 he returned to St. Petersburg and for the following 10 years, his father’s trusted work-master Hiskias Pendin acted as his mentor and tutor. Upon the death of Hiskias Pendin in 1882, Carl Fabergé took sole responsibility for running the company.

the first easter egg by faberge. — Peter Carl Faberge at work.

The hen egg by faberge. — The first of the Faberge Easter Eggs, the Hen Egg, 1885.

When Peter Carl took over the House, there was a move from producing jewellery in the then-fashionable French 18th century style to becoming artist-jewellers. Fabergé’s production of the very first so-called Fabergé egg, the Hen Egg, given as a gift from the Tsar to his wife Maria Fyodorovna on Orthodox Easter (24 March) of 1885 so delighted her that on 1 May the Emperor assigned Fabergé the title Goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown of that year. This meant that Fabergé now had full personal access to the important Hermitage Collection, where he was able to study and find inspiration for developing his unique personal style.

Shortly after joining his father, Agathon Faberge introduced objects deluxe: gold bejewelled items embellished with enamel ranging from electric bell pushes to cigarette cases and including objects de fantaisie.

The Tsar soon commissioned the company to make an Easter egg as a gift for her every year thereafter. The Tsar placed an order for another egg the following year. Beginning in 1887, the Tsar apparently gave Carl Fabergé complete freedom with regard to egg designs, which then became more and more elaborate. According to Fabergé Family tradition, not even the Tsar knew what form they would take— the only stipulation was that each one should be unique and each should contain a surprise. Upon the death of Alexander III, his son, the next Tsar, Nicholas II, followed this tradition and expanded it by requesting that there be two eggs each year, one for his mother (who was eventually given a total of 30 such eggs) and one for his wife, Alexandra (who received another 20). These Easter gift eggs are today distinguished from the other jeweled eggs Fabergé ended up producing by their designation as “Imperial Easter eggs” or “Tsar Imperial Easter eggs”. The tradition continued until the October Revolution when the entire Romanov dynasty was executed and the eggs and many other treasures were confiscated by the interim government. The two final eggs were never delivered nor paid for.

Although today the House of Fabergé is famed for its Imperial Easter eggs, it made many more objects ranging from silver tableware to fine jewelry which were also of exceptional quality and beauty, and until its departure from Russia during the revolution, Fabergé’s company became the largest jewelry business in the country. In addition to its Saint Petersburg headquarters, it had branches in Moscow, Odessa, Kiev and London. It produced some 150,000 to 200,000 objects from 1882 until 1917.

In 1917 upon the outbreak of the October Revolution, the business was taken over by a ‘Committee of the Employees of the Company K Fabergé. In 1918 The House of Fabergé was seized by the Bolsheviks. In early October the stock was confiscated. The House of Fabergé was no more.

After the nationalisation of the business, Carl Fabergé left St. Petersburg and fled to Germany and first settled in Wiesbaden and eventually in Switzerland where other members of the family had taken refuge at the Bellevue Hotel near Lausanne.

Peter Carl Fabergé never recovered from the shock of the Russian Revolution. He died in Switzerland on September 24, 1920. His family believed he died of a broken heart. His wife, Augusta, died in 1925. The two were reunited in 1929 when Eugène Fabergé took his father’s ashes from Lausanne and buried them in his mother’s grave at the Cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes, France.

In 1924, Alexander and Eugène opened Fabergé & Cie in Paris, where they had a modest success making the types of items that their father Carl retailed years before. To distinguish their pieces from those made in Russia before the Revolution, they used the trademark FABERGÉ, PARIS. They also sold jewellery and had a sideline repairing and restoring the items that had been made by the original House of Fabergé. Fabergé & Cie continued to operate in Paris until 2001.

What followed were years of changing owners, court cases and countless licensing agreements that ranged from pefumes to sunglasses, until January 2013, when Fabergé Limited was sold to the gem mining company Gemfields.

Take a look at the making of the Centenary Egg celebrating the legacy of Peter Carl Faberge.

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