The first two monographs written about Faberge
some forty years ago are chiefly based either on the reminiscences
of Henry Bainbridge's firsthand experiences with Carl Faberge
himself, or on A. Kenneth Snowman's talks with Eugene Faberge,
the jeweller's eldest son, in the early 1950s. Some of this
-information is corroborated in short notes made by Leon Grinberg
after a long talk he had with Eugene Faberge in Paris. Bainbridge
was Faberge's representative in London from 1908 to 1917,
and he travelled yearly to St. Petersburg to meet the master
himself. He published the first highly personal monograph
on the subject in 1949. Snowman, today the doyen of Faberge
scholars, published his pioneering findings in 1953.
In the years that followed, scholarship was
restricted, and only a few new sources were made available.
These included Faberge's London sales ledgers; two design
books depicting the output of the workshops of August and
Albert Holmstrom between 1909 and 1915; an auction of Faberge
designs; and most recently, the design books of Henrik Wigstrom.
Our eyes are now focused on Russia. Archives
in St. Petersburg and Moscow have finally begun to produce
their long-expected harvest of original documents. A further
primary source has been revealed in the memoirs of Franz Birbaum,
dated 1919. Large quantities of original drawings are emerging,
thus permitting firsthand insight into the early jewellery
production of the Faberge workshops, as well as into the lesser
known realm of the Moscow workshops. This new information
allows us to fill in numerous gaps, as it helps to revise
some erroneous assumptions and to confirm others.
The Formative Years (1866-1885)
Carl Faberge was born in 1846 in St. Petersburg.
His father Gustav, of Huguenot extraction, was an unassuming
jeweller who had been independently active since 1841. In
1860, fourteen-year-old Carl Faberge accompanied his parents
on their move to Dresden. From there his father sent him on
a tour of Europe, with stops in Frankfurt, Florence, and Paris.
Back in St. Petersburg by 1866 as a full-fledged master, Carl
joined Hiskias Pendin, August Holmstrom, and Wilhelm Reimer,
all of whom had been employed by his father. In 1868 a Finnish
goldsmith, Erik Kollin, was attached to the firm. Four years
later Carl Faberge took over his father's workshop, with Kollin
as his first head workmaster.
From 1866 to 1885 is somewhat of a blank in
Faberge's oeuvre. Birbaum describes the earliest products
of the house as somewhat clumsy gold bracelets, which were
fashionable at the time, brooches and medallions in the form
of straps with clasps.... They were decorated with stones
and enamels and samples can still be seen in the old drawings
of the firm
These must have been similar to what is known
of the production of Gustav Faberge, Carl's father. A newly
discovered scrap-book with jewellery designs spanning the
last three decades of the nineteenth century has surfaced,
partially filling the existing gap. In it Faberge appears
to be totally linked to the mainstream of contemporary French
jewellery. His designs for diamond-set sprays of flowers,
some enamelled, ears of wheat, and trailing ivy branches are
all reminiscent of Masset Freres, I. Coulon, O. Massin, and
the early production of Boucheron and Vever. Elaborate diamond-set
pendant brooches suspended from tied ribbons, ribbon-knot
necklaces, and bracelets painted mostly in white gouache on
black paper would seem to indicate that Faberge's genius was
not yet at work. At times a lighter touch can be discerned,
albeit it is still firmly anchored in the European mainstream.
Here we find trelliswork bracelets made of diamonds and rubies,
and Louis XV-style chatelaines and fringe necklaces. Some
bolder designs, signed by Faberge's younger brother Agathon,
show largely diamond-and-emerald-set tiaras and a number of
showy necklaces. Favourite motifs were branches of blossoms,
ears of wheat and artfully tied ribbons... . This was the
best period for diamond work. The works of this period are
characterised by a rich design, visible even at a distance.
The fashion was for large diadems, small egret plumes, necklaces
in shapes of collars, breast-plates for the corsage, clasps
and large ribbons.
Virtually nothing of this style of jewellery
confirming Faberge's focus on traditional designs has survived
from this period. The account books of the Imperial Cabinet
indicate that Faberge vied with other better-known jewellers,
Julius Butz, Edward Bolin, Friedrich Koechli, and Leopold
Zeftingen, for Imperial commissions. Initially his share was
modest, but it grew over the years, with Faberge being mentioned
only seven times in 1883 and seventeen times in 1888. In the
nineteen years up to 1885, Faberge had sold 47,249 roubles
worth of items to the Imperial Cabinet. In the mid-1880s Faberge's
annual orders still averaged 10,000 roubles while his competitor
Bolin sold three times as much. Faberge, however, rapidly
insinuated himself into the good graces of the court officials
by acting as an appraiser at the Hermitage and helping with
repairs, free of charge.13
Amongst the earliest documented works by the
Faberge brothers and Erik Kollin are the copies made in 1885
after the Kerch gold jewels, a magnificent hoard of gold jewellery
dating from the fourth century B.C. that was exhibited at
the Hermitage. The execution of this work required not only
considerable exactitude, but also the reintroduction of some
long-forgotten methods of working. The brothers Faberge overcame
all the obstacles brilliantly and subsequently received orders
for a whole series of copies of Kerch Antiquities.
Faberge's designs during the tenure of Kollin
hardly differ from what was being produced in other European
centres during the 1870s. His antiquarian tastes are evident
in the rare objects dating from this period, including gold
cups and objects in the Renaissance style. At that time settings
of large engraved carnelians and other kinds of agate in the
form of brooches, necklaces etc. was very popular. These settings
were made of fine beads, or laces, interlaced with carved
or filigree ornamentation.
The Period of Agathon Faberge (1882-1895)
In 1882, twenty-year-old Agathon Faberge joined
his brother Carl in St. Petersburg and worked with him for
over ten years. This period was to be the richest and most
creative in Faberge's oeuvre, with the quality of objects
produced remaining unsurpassed. It is generally assumed that
the synergy between the two Faberge brothers - Carl, with
his interest in classical styles, and Agathon, the more lively
and creative artist - combined with the advent of their brilliant
second head workmaster, Mikhail Perkhin (1886-1903),15 was
the catalyst for the birth of the Faberge objet d'art. Most
of the Faberge themes - the Imperial Easter eggs, animals,
flowers, and objects of vertu in hardstones or precious metals
- were first introduced during this decade. Birbaum's memoirs
indicate that it was Agathon Faberge who brought about the
change in the House of Faberge. By nature more lively and
impressionable, [he] sought his inspiration everywhere - in
ancient works of art, in Eastern styles which had been little
studied at that time, and in nature. His extant drawings are
evidence of constant and ceaseless questing. Ten or more variations
of a theme can often be found.
 Both
of the Faberge brothers had travelled. Carl, for example,
had acquired firsthand knowledge of Western styles in Dresden,
Frankfurt, Florence, and Paris. But at home both had access
to the richest source of inspiration available: the Hermitage.16
The Hermitage and its jewellery gallery became the school
for the Faberge jewellers. After the Kerch collection they
studied all the ages that are represented there, especially
the age of Elizabeth and Catherine II. Many of the gold and
jewellery exhibits were copied precisely and then used as
models for new compositions. Foreign antique dealers frequently
suggested making series of objects without hallmarks or the
name of the firm. This is one of the best proofs of the perfection
of these works, but the proposals were, of course, rejected.
The compositions preserved the style of the past centuries,
but the objects were contemporary. There were cigarette cases
and necessaires instead of snuff-boxes and desk clocks, inkpots,
ashtrays and electric bell-pushes instead of objects of fantasy
with no particular purpose. . . . The 18th century works of
art in the Hermitage inspired the use of transparent enamel
on engraved and guilloched gold and silver.
By the 1890s Faberge had outstripped his competitors
in the field of objects and silver, while Bolin retained the
edge in jewellery. (The latter's turnover in 1896 in Moscow
was 500,000 roubles.) Nevertheless, it was a pearl-and-diamond
necklace from Faberge, worth 166,500 roubles, that was chosen
by Tsarevich Nikolai as his betrothal present to Princess
Alix of Hessen-Darmstadt in 1894.17 In turn, Nikolai's parents
paid the highest price ever attained by Faberge, 250,000 roubles,
for another necklace acquired for their daughter-in-law. By
1896 the turnover of Faberge's Moscow branch, founded in 1887
to cope with expanding production, had reached 400,000 roubles.18
The firm's bread and butter were large and expensive silver
services and centre-pieces costing 50,000 roubles. Designs
for a Louis XVI-style service, commissioned in 1894 by Alexander
III for the Tsarevich, and projects for a monumental service
for the wedding of Grand Duchess Olga Aleksandrovna in 1901,
are preserved in the Hermitage and are well documented.
Important commissions were undertaken for the
Coronation festivities of 1896. Trips made by the Imperial
Family to Denmark and to London were a source of excellent
business for Faberge, since many of their presents came from
his workshops. Further visible successes of the firm included
distinctions at the Pan-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod
(1896) and at the Nordic Exhibition in Stockholm (1897), culminating
in 1898-1900 with the building of new premises at 24 Bolshaya
Morskaya Street and Faberge's participation in the Paris Exposition
Universelle in 1900.
|
