 The
Paris World's Fair of 1900 was planned to be the most lavish
one of its kind ever held.1 Preparations must have taken many
years, since they involved a substantial modification of the
capital's centre. Few are aware today that the Gare d'Orsay
and both the Grand and the Petit Palais were built for this
occasion. Both of these palaces, -which were then situated
on 'Avenue Nicholas II' (today Avenue Winston Churchill),
were baptised thus as a gesture of friendship towards Tsar
Nicholas II. Together with Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna and
President Felix Faure, the Tsar had laid the foundation stone
of the Pont Alexandre III on 7 October 1896, another monument
destined to be opened in 1900 as a symbolic underpinning of
Russo-French entente. The visit of the Tsar and Tsarina had
been heralded for the opening of the Exposition Universelle
in order to inaugurate the bridge. The visit never took place:
French papers attributed the Russian change of mind to Alexandra
Feodorovna's concern for their lives. Instead the bridge was
inaugurated by the Russian Ambassador, Prince Ouroussov.
The World's Fair covered 112 hectares, extending to the Champs
Elysees, the esplanade of the Invalides, the Champ de Mars,
and the banks of the Seine. The Exposition opened its doors
on 14 April 1900 and closed on 12 November. Paris was in '
a frenzy. Seventy-six thousand exhibitors showed their wares,
and fifty million entries were registered. Cleo de Merode
danced her Cambodian dances in the Asian Theatre at the Trocadero,
and Sarah Bernhardt acted in Rostand's L'Aiglon, her star
role.
The planning and construction of the Russian Pavillion and
its contents at the Trocadero was a major undertaking. Mrde
Kowalevsky, Director of the Department of Commerce and Manufacture,
was President of the Imperial Commission, Mr A. de Raffalovich
of the Ministry of Finance acted as its Vice-President, Prince
Viiicheslas Tenicheff as its General Commissar, and Mr Rasil
Wouyich as its Deputy Commissar. With a team of eighty-five
members, the Commission succeeded in producing a most lavish
mise en scene. Architect Meltzer recreated an entire city,
with its kremlin, church, and all, to contain the Palais de
Vasie Russe. A village in its middle exhibited the smaller
Russian rural industries under the patronage of Grand Duchess
Sergei. This Russian village was peopled -with typical workmen,
craftsmen, cossacks, and musicians, including the famous V.
V. Andreev with his Grand Russian orchestra, whom Feodor Chaliapin
visited.
Since the Moscow-Vladivostok line of the Trans-Siberian Express
had been inaugurated that same year, Wagons Lits exhibited
an original train, which was used as a public bar. Visitors
could imagine a trip on the Trans-Siberian Express as a continuous
panorama glided past the bar's windows. In the section of
textiles, the firm of Sapozhnikov exhibited the coronation
mantles of Tsar Alexander III and of Nicholas II. Kt the Invalides
(Industries Diverses), a large map of France was shown, made
by the hardstone cutting factory of Ekaterinburg arid presented
to the French Government by Tsar Nicholas II.
The exhibition of jewellery and goldsmith work was shown
as part of the Pavillion de ITndustrie on the Esplanade des
Invalides, with foreign exhibitors presenting their work in
the annex building Section Etrangere. Faberge had been invited
to participate as a member of the Classe 95 (Joaillerie et
Bijouterie), which was presided by Louis Aucoc fils. His works
appeared hors concours alongside Commission members Frederic
Boucherori, Rene Lalique, and Henri Vever. As a member of
the International Jury, he also showed works in the section
Classe 94 (Orfevrerie), presided by Georges Roin, alongside
Commission members Th.-Joseph Armand-Caillat and Emile Froment-Meurice.
At the House of Faberge preparations for this major occasion
were in full swing by 1899. The Tsar and Tsarina had permitted
Faberge to exhibit a selection of items from the Imperial
Treasury, including a number of Imperial Easter eggs. Many
works exhibited in Paris were later shown to the Russian public
in 1902 at the Dervise Mansion (see descriptions of these
items in Lopato, 'New Insights into Faberge from Russian Documents.')-
It was Faberge's initiative to ask permission to reproduce
some of the Imperial Regalia in miniature. A file 'On permission
to jeweller Faberge to produce for the purpose of exhibiting
at the Paris Exposition of the miniature replicas of the Imperial
regalia' was opened on 28 June and closed on 24 August 1899.2
Report.
Having the intention to make the miniature replicas of the
Imperia crowns regalia (some of them) for the forthcoming
Paris World's Fail and not daring to do so without knowledge
and permission of th> Cameral Office of His Majesty's Cabinet,
f report such is my intentioi and kindly request to grant
me, if possible, permission to make sud replicas.
28 June 1899 C. Faberge
Note: His Excellency V.V. Sipiagm - I ask you to discuss the
mattei
28.VII.99
Report
Jeweller Faberge addressed the Cameral Office of His Majesty
Cabinet with a request to allow him to make for the forthcoming
Par World's Fair and to exhibit there the exact miniature
replicas of soir Imperial regalia (big Emperor's Crown, Sceptre
and Orb). Sue request of Mr Faberge is submitted for the consideration
of yoi Excellency.
28 July 1899 Director of the Chamberlain's Office of His Majestj
Cabinet in the rank of Imperial Court Equerry
V. Sipiagin.
Note: Imperial permission is granted, but not for sale.
Baron Frederiechs. 4. August 1899
Dear Sir, Carl Gustavovich,
I inform you that the Imperial permission is granted for yoi
manufacturing the replicas of the Imperial Regalia.3
A note in the files of the Imperial Cabinet concerns tl acquisition
in 1902 of these replicas by His Majesty's Cabinet They have
been on view at the Hermitage since that time.
In absence of a list of loans from Faberge, we can only ba
our knowledge on the descriptions in contemporary repoi .
Only a small number of Faberge's exhibits we actually mentioned
either in the press or in the jury's repor Those that are
described are the Pamiat Azova egg of 1891; tl Lilies-of-the-Valley
basket and the Lilies-of-the-Valley egg both of 1896; the
Pansy egg of 1899; and the miniature replicas of the Imperial
Crown Jewels of 1900; a carnet de bal, a group of flowers,
and a candelabra and a large centre-piece, both in nephrite
and mounted in bronze and silver.
The Jury of Classe 94 (Orfevrerie) gave a very positive
report on Faberge's exhibits.
We have examined with pleasure the works presented by Mr Faberge,
the jeweller goldsmith, who, as member of the Jury of Classe
95, was hors concours. He showed us some interesting objects
of goldsmith-work: a Louis XVI-style candelabra and a large
decorative piece, in which the use of nephrite, bronze and
silver and their decoration in the modern taste were worthy
of praise, but what was most charming was his collection of
precious objects, in gold and enamel destined to give satisfaction
to the national tradition of presents, which both the great
and the humble, the rich and the poor habitually give at the
occasion of Easter.
The Collection of Easter eggs borrowed from the Imperial
Treasure was quite exquisite.
These pieces stem more from the tradition of the ] eweller
than of the goldsmith, but the forms, and the decoration and
above all the dimensions have made us classify them more as
goldsmithwork rather than jewellery. The mounts are delicate,
the secret compartments, the chasing, the enamels were truly
remarkable.
The Jury of Classe 95 (Joaillerie et Bijouterie) analysed
Faberge's exhibits as follows:
One cannot but express one's satisfaction when one can examine
one by one in detail the jewels exhibited by the House of
Faberge. Hors concours as a member of the Jury, this is craftsmanship
at the very limits of perfection, the transformation of a
jewel into a true object of art. The perfect execution as
well as irreproachable setting distinguish all objects exhibited
by the House of Faberge, whether it is this tiny imperial
crown set with 4000 stones, or these enamelled flowers so
perfectly imitated that they seem natural, or these numerous
objects of fantasy, which have been examined at length by
the Jury.6
In the same vein, traditionalists amongst the critics hailed
Faberge's art unreservedly as being stylistically and technically
perfect, as Victor Champier observed.
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