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All Thomas Colt, Jr., Director of the Virginia Museurn flf
Fine Arts in 1947, knew was that a wealthy Mrs. John Lee Pratt
had willed to the Museum her collection of the last Russian
Czar's family trinkets. . . . When he unwrapped Mrs. Pratt's
gift, he found: a world globe of topaz on a solid gold base;
a rock crystal Easter egg rimmed with diamonds, . . . {Life
Magazine, November 1947). The globe and the egg were advertised
in 1939 for $2500 and $55,000, respectively. Their story suggests
the fruitfulness of exploring the fate of Faberge objects
and their American collectors, both at the time Faberge was
still active, and from the Revolution to the post-war period,
when public sales became more frequent and knowledge became
more widespread.
It is true that the vast majority of Faberge's clientele
was composed of Europe's wealthy upper class, including royalty,
but it also included more than one American who shopped before
World War I, not only in St. Petersburg and in Moscow but
also in London. Their acquisitions - with the exception of
those made by Henry Walters of Baltimore, who, beginning in
1900, continued his interest in Faberge after the Revolution
-were for the most part limited to a few pieces, souvenirs
of an exotic voyage or gifts for friends. They included purchases
in St. Petersburg of the gold, enamel, and rock crystal sedan
chair (The FORBES Magazine Collection, New York) selected
by the junior J. P. Morgan, and the pink enamel Duchess of
Marlborough egg (The FORBES Magazine Collection) acquired
by Consuelo Vanderbilt in 1902. An elaborate gold and jewelled
nephrite lotus form vase, possibly intended as a gift for
H. M. King Chulalongkorn of Siam (exhibited A La Vieille Russie
1983, no. 310), was purchased by a Miss Morris of Philadelphia
in August of 1903 in Moscow for the princely sum of 3250 roubles
(fig. 1). Less important but probably more typical was a gold,
ruby, and nephrite box (ALVR 1983, no. 168) obtained in London
by Princess Hatzfeldt (the former Claire Huntington of Detroit,
Michigan) in 1911 for ?40.
These 'curio' collectors predated the collectors of the 1930s,
such as Mrs Pratt, whose motivations included preserving the
legacy of the Tsars, and the more focused collectors of the
post-World War II period, which included Mr and Mrs Jack Linsky,
Lansdell Christie, and Malcolm Forbes. They were influenced
not only by the reputation of the House of Faberge and the
charm and quality of its wares, but also by the exposure Russian
art was receiving in the West. According to the introduction
to the catalogue of the Russian section of the World's Columbian
Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, for example, 'It was the
High Wish of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, that the Russian
exhibitors should profit of all aid and assistance to participate
at the Exhibition', and indeed works by many of Faberge's
competitors, including Grachev, Hahn, and Klingert, were on
view. As early as 1886, the firm of Anton Kuzmichev (silversmiths
and enamellers) was exporting to the United States and selling
through Tiffany & Co, as was the Kornilov Brothers Porcelain
Factory after 1884, which also exhibited at the 1893 Columbian
Exposition. The World's Fair held in St. Louis in 1904 included
about six hundred paintings by contemporary Russian artists,
apparently without much success, even though the 1900 Exposition
Universelle in Paris had featured Faberge's work and had furthered
the interest in Russian art abroad. Contemporary fascination
with Faberge and with other forms of Russian art, especially
the decorative arts, is not new. It had its genesis before
the Revolution arid was actively fostered by the Tsarist government,
which tried to create an export market. Similarly, the young
Soviet government would later look to the West for hard currency
to finance its needs.
During the post-Revolutionary period, a trading market and
an interest in collecting began to develop both in America
and in Europe. Dealers involved became the dominant force
in introducing Faberge to the public. The primary traders
in America, both in New York, were the Hammer Galleries from
1921, and Alexander Schaffer from the late 1920s. First individually
and later as A La Vieille Russie, Schaffer used merchandise
acquired in the Soviet Union to stimulate interest in Russian
art among wealthy patrons who were attracted to the beauty
of the art, sensitive to the tragedy of the Tsarist fall,
and fascinated by its historical implications. The need for
hard L currency was paramount in the Soviet Union, and sales
of works i of art -were effected by various governmental agencies
responsive to inexperienced ministers -who paid less attention
to conserving the national heritage than to raising cash by
selling the spoils of the aristocracy and the church to Western
buyers.
Hammer and Schaffer purchased quantities of porcelain, icons,
brocades, and memorabilia, as well as items in precious has
been suggested that the government was mocking the capitalists
to whom they were selling, but the officials involved were
trying to help in the rebuilding of their country, and the
result was a relatively steady supply of merchandise. Overall,
works by Faberge, in addition to their artistic appeal, were
important commercial items. As they were 'second-hand', barely
being resold a decade or so after their manufacture, prices
of objects were relatively reasonable. A merchant could buy
quite a number of items for a modest sum and be assured of
adequate stock.
Although it was not the main focus of the Soviet government,
trade was active in Europe as well, with two previously established
firms gaining new prominence by dealing in Faberge and Russian
art. Those firms were Wartski, from 1925 in London (run then
by Emanuel Snowman, and later by his son A. Kenneth Snowman),
and A La Vieille Russie (run by Jacques Zolotnitzky and his
nephew Leon Grinberg), -which resettled in Paris around 1920
from Kiev. Zolotnitzky and Grinberg worked closely with Alexander
Schaffer, who spent much time in Paris between the -wars,
eventually becoming partners. They began supplying Schaffer,
as -well as others, with Faberge objects mostly purchased
in the emigration. Through the hands of these four merchants,
two in America and two in Europe, passed virtually all the
important pieces which today are in major collections around
the world.
Sales records 6f the post-Revolutionary period are sketchy,
but a whole garden of Faberge flowers or a menagerie of animals
might be sold for $135 to $600 each. Silver items, except
for the larger and more elaborate examples, were purchased
by weight and were offered at reasonable prices. Gold and
enamel picture frames could be had for $95 to $350, handles
and clocks for around $65, a buckle for $15, a lorgnette in
its original case for $67.50, and miniature eggs (those by
Faberge and others were similarly priced) sold for around
$30 each. Also available were Gardner plates of the Order
of St. Vladimir for $35 each, and a dozen cloisonne enamel
spoons for $60 per set. Porcelain eggs with the monogram of
Alexandra Feodorovna, now selling for $1500, were boxed and
offered as gifts to favoured clients at Easter, and, as Faberge
had done, the brass and copper ashtrays manufactured during
World War were also offered as gifts. Specific examples of
more important pieces with the price history follow: circula:
blue enamel presentation box with the monogram of Nichola:
II (ALVR 1983, no. 218; cat. 101) was purchased in 1923 foi
$250, sold in 1930 for around $700, and resold in 1979 foi
$42,800; the twelve-panel pink enamel Easter egg now in the
collection of Her Majesty the Queen (cat. 185) was sold in
1933 for around $850; the Coronation box (The FORBES Magazine
Collection; cat. 105) was sold in 1937 for around $1700, with
a profit of around $350; the rich mujik (Victoria and Albert
Museum 1977, no. N 5) was sold in 1937 for $950, with a $200
profit; and a red enamel cigarette case (ALVR 1983, no. 118)
was purchased in the mid-1930s for $54 and sold in 1975 for
around $8000. Also illustrative are the deals not done: a
smoky topaz vase (Helen B. Sanders Bequest, The Brooklyn Museum,
Brooklyn, New York; ALVR 1983, no. 309) was turned down by
A La Vieille Russie in 1938 when it was offered for $1350,
and the cloisonne enamel tea set (Bainbridge 1966, pi. 36)
was turned down in 1940 when offered by Faberge's son in Paris
for $1500. Lest these prices seem low, it should be remembered
that in spite of the Depression, they were quite high, as
they had been in Faberge's time. A copy of the New York Times
cost two cents, thirty-five cents bought lunch, and the Schaffers
paid $150 a month rent for their gallery.
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