Fabergé | Nicholas II

Fabergé’s Imperial Winter Egg sells for over $30 million USD

On 2nd December 2025, Carl Fabergé’s legendary Winter Egg sold at auction for more than $30.2 million USD to an anonymous buyer. For the third time in its history, the Winter Egg is now the most valuable Fabergé item ever sold.

The Winter Egg was first sold by Christie’s in 1994 for 7.3 million Swiss francs, setting what was then a world record for a Fabergé item. Eight years later, in 2002, the egg broke its own record when it fetched $9.6 million at a Christie’s auction in New York City.

The Winter Egg was presented to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna by her son, Emperor Nicholas II as an Easter gift in 1913. What makes this particular egg so rare, is that for the first time in the history of the Imperial Easter Eggs, the design was created by a woman: Alma Theresia Pihl-Klee (1888-1976), the niece of the master August Wilhelm Holmström (1829-1903), who brought this project to life.

PHOTO: Alma Theresia Pihl-Klee (1888-1976)

Margo Oganesian, Christie’s head of department for Fabergé and Russian works of art, said: “Christie’s is honoured to have been entrusted with the sale of the exquisite Winter Egg by Fabergé for the third time in our history.

“Today’s result sets a new world auction record for a work by Fabergé, reaffirming the enduring significance of this masterpiece and celebrating the rarity and brilliance of what is widely regarded as one of Fabergé’s finest creations, both technically and artistically.

“With only a handful of imperial Easter eggs remaining in private hands, this was an exceptional and historic opportunity for collectors to acquire a work of unparalleled importance.”

The author of this article believes that the Winter Egg should be returned to Russia, where it originated and where it belongs today. It would be a most kind and generous gesture on the part of the anonymous buyer to gift it to either the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg – which has 9 Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs – or the Armoury of the Moscow Kremlin, which has 10 Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs.

FURTHER READING:

The Imperial legacy of Carl Fabergé (1846-1920) + PHOTOS

Christie’s to auction Fabergé’s legendary “Winter Egg” – again!

Christie’s to auction Fabergé’s legendary “Winter Egg” – again!

Posted on October 2 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: Fabergé’s “Winter Egg (1913)

On 2nd December 2025, one of Carl Fabergé‘s Imperial Easter Eggs, will be auctioned – yet again – at Christie’s in London. The legendary Winter Egg, is expected to sell for more than £20 million [$27 million USD].

Recall that the Winter Egg was presented to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna by her son, Emperor Nicholas II as an Easter gift in 1913, the same year which also marked the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty. This exquisite piece is considered one of the most elegant of the 50 Imperial Easter Eggs created by the Fabergé firm.

For the first time in the history of the Imperial Easter Eggs, the design for the Winter Egg was created by a woman: Alma Theresia Pihl-Klee (1888-1976), the niece of the master August Wilhelm Holmström (1829-1903), who brought this project to life.

The egg measured 142 x 102 x 82 mm and cost 24,600 rubles. Pihl-Klee’s design depicts a block of melting ice. It was carved from a single piece of rock crystal and consists of two transparent halves, decorated with the finest engraving on the inside, imitating frost on the window. The exterior of the egg is decorated with engraving and platinum patterns with diamonds in the form of snowflakes and “streams” of platinum and diamonds.

The top of the egg is crowned with a moonstone in the form of a cabochon, with the date “1913”. The bezel of each half is made of platinum and decorated with 1,308 small diamonds and 360 medium-sized diamonds.

PHOTO: Fabergé’s “Winter Egg (1913)

The surprise inside the Winter Egg is a platinum basket with snowdrops. The flowers rest on a bed of golden moss, each flower is carved from a single white quartz. The stems and stamens are made of gold, the leaves are made of jade, and the flower buds are made of pomegranate.

At the bottom of the basket, studded with 1,378 diamonds, there is an engraving of “Fabergé 1913”.

After the 1917 Revolution, the Winter Egg was confiscated along with all the other possessions of the Romanov Family, as well as those of the families of the Russian nobility. During the 1920s, a number of Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs were sold by the Bolsheviks to foreign buyers.

During the past century, the Winter Egg has been sold numerous times . . .

In 1927 it was sold to the Wartski Gallery in London for £450. In 1934 it was resold to Lord Alington for £1,500. In 1948, the egg was purchased by British tycoon Bernard Eckstein, but he died shortly thereafter, and the Fabergé egg, along with his other possessions, was put up for auction at Sotheby’s in London. For £1,870, it was bought by Arthur Brian Ledbrook. After his death in 1975, the trace of the egg was lost.

In 1993, the Winter Egg was found in a shoebox under a bed in the suburbs of London. The following year, it was put up for auction at Christie’s in Geneva. An anonymous buyer from the United States paid 7.263 million Swiss francs [$5.587 million USD] for it by phone.

In 2002, the Winter Egg reappeared at a Christie’s auction in New York. It was purchased for $9.579 million by the Qatari prince, Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani (1966-2014). The Qatari prince served as the country’s Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. By the turn of the 21st century, he had established an international reputation as an avid art collector, both for his own collection as well as those of several state-owned museums he oversaw in Qatar. His descendants have made the decision to offer the Winter Egg for sale at Christie’s in London.

Margo Oganesian, Head of Christie’s Department, Fabergé and Russian Works of Art, said: “With only six other Imperial Easter Eggs remaining in private collections, this is an extraordinary opportunity for collectors to acquire what is arguably one of Fabergé’s finest creations, both technically and artistically.”

The Imperial legacy of Carl Fabergé (1846-1920)

Posted on September 24 by Paul Gilbert

Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920)

Today – 24th September 2025 – marks the 105th anniversary of the death of Peter Carl Fabergé. He died on 24th September 1920, in Pully, near Lausanne, Switzerland, aged 74. This article is a tribute to his life and the Imperial legacy of his work.

Peter Carl Fabergé was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on 30th (O.S. 18th) May 1846. Carl was one of four children born into the family of the Baltic German jeweller, Gustav Fabergé (1814-1893) and his wife Charlotte Maria Jungstedt (1820-1903).

In 1842, Gustav Fabergé opened a jewelry store on at 24 Bolshaya Morskaya Street (see photo below), in St. Petersburg. In 1899-1900, the building was rebuilt by the architect and cousin of the jeweller Carl Schmidt.

In 1860, Carl’s family moved to Dresden, leaving the family business in the hands of trusted managers. In Dresden, Carl took courses at the city’s University of Fine Arts. In 1864, he set off on a Grand Tour of Europe. He completed his training with respected goldsmiths in Germany, France, Italy and England, while spending his free time exploring Europe’s finest galleries and museums. He continued his Grand Tour of Europe until 1872, when, at the age of 26, he returned to St. Petersburg. For the next ten years, the craftsman Hiskias Pendin, employed by his father, became his mentor and tutor.

It was also in 1872, that Carl married Augusta Julia Jacobs (1851-1925). The couple had five sons, four of whom lived to adulthood: Eugène (1874–1960), Agathon (1876–1951), Alexander (1877–1952), Nikolai (1881-1883), and Nicholas (1884–1939). Descendants of Peter Carl Fabergé live in mainland Europe, Scandinavia and South America.

PHOTO: Gustav Fabergé and his wife Charlotte Maria Jungstedt

In 1882, Carl Fabergé took sole responsibility for running the company. He was awarded the title Master Goldsmith, which permitted him to use his own hallmark in addition to that of the firm.

In 1882, Carl and his brother Agathon caused a sensation at the All-Russian Exhibition held in Moscow. Carl received the gold medal of the Exhibition and the medal of Saint-Stanislaus. It was during this exhibition, that Fabergé was first noticed by Emperor Alexander III (1845-1894). The Emperor was so impressed with the objects of the House of Fabergé, that he ordered such to be presented at the Hermitage as superb examples of contemporary Russian craftsmanship.

In 1884, Alexander III granted the House of Fabergé the privilege of being the supplier to the Imperial Court, placing the Russian jeweller in direct competition with the Swedish jeweller Bolin. It remained so under Nicholas II. He was also recognized by the courts of the United Kingdom, Thailand, Sweden and Norway.

While Carl Fabergé was best known for the famous Imperial Easter Eggs, he also gained fame for many more objects ranging from silver tableware to fine jewelry which were also of exceptional quality and beauty.

At the turn of the 19th-early 20th century the Fabergé firm employed more than 500 people. Up until 1917, Fabergé’s company became the largest jewelry business in Russia. In 1916, the House of Fabergé became a joint-stock company with a capital of 3-million rubles. Between 1882 until 1917, the firm produced some 150,000 to 200,000 objects.

PHOTO: the main building of the Karl Fabergé firm in was located at Ulitsa Bolshaya Morskaya, 24., in St. Petersburg, and has survived to this day.

In order to cope with such volumes and manage not only the headquarters in the capital, but also branches within the Russian Empire and abroad, the company had rules for which workers must abide: Men were obliged to be respectful to women and girls working at the firm; All employees were forbidden to swear during working hours and conduct indecent conversations among themselves; Apprentices were forbidden to shout, swear, quarrel, fight and make any noise; Smoking was not permitted on the premises of the firm; All employees were forbidden to tell jokes during working hours; It was forbidden to gather in groups and talk about abstract topics.

The main building of the Carl Fabergé firm in was located at Ulitsa (Street) Bolshaya Morskaya, 24., in St. Petersburg, and has survived to this day. The firm also maintained branches in Moscow, Odessa, Kiev and London.

PHOTO: Carl Fabergé hands the Winter Imperial Easter Egg (1913) to Nicholas II, in the presence of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their son Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. Painted in 2001, by the artist: Anatoly Ivanovich Perevyshko [b.1952]

Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs

Carl Fabergé is perhaps best known for his Imperial Easter Eggs. They are at once exquisite works of art and fascinating relics of a vanished era. Some of the most valuable and prized treasures on earth, the jewelled eggs created by Peter Carl Fabergé for Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II represent the zenith of the jeweller’s art. They helped secure Fabergé a monumental reputation and embody an era of opulence that came to a sudden, horrific end.

A total of 50 Imperial Easter Eggs were created: 10 for Alexander III and 40 for Nicholas II, as Easter gifts for Alexander’s wife and Nicholas’s mother Empress Maria Feodorovna, and Nicholas’s wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. After the death of his father in 1894, Nicholas II gifted one of Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs to his mother as well.

Two more of Imperial Easter Eggs (bringing the total to 52) were designed but were unable to be delivered. One egg known as the Karelian Birch Egg, has confirmed sketches but is not confirmed to have actually been made, and the other, the Blue Tsesarevich Constellation Egg, only partially completed due to the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Of the 52 known Imperial Easter Eggs, 46 have survived to the present day. Ten of the imperial Easter Eggs are displayed at Moscow’s Kremlin Armoury Museum.

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 nationalization of his business, Carl Fabergé left St. Petersburg on the last diplomatic train for Riga. In mid-November, the Revolution having reached Latvia, he fled to Germany and first settled in Bad Homburg and then in Wiesbaden. In June 1920, he went to Switzerland where other members of his family had taken refuge at the Bellevue Hotel in Pully, near Lausanne.

PHOTO: Grave of Peter Carl Fabergé

Peter Carl Fabergé never recovered from the shock of the Russian Revolution. He died in Switzerland on 24th September 1920. His family believed he died of a broken heart. His wife, Augusta, died in 1925. The two were reunited in 1929 when the couple’s son 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.

Memory Eternal! Вечная Память!

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More than a century after his death, the legacy of Carl Fabergé prevails. His works have been the subject of countless exhibitions, books, documentaries and conferences, while auction houses continue to sell his jewels, objets d’art, and Imperial Easter Eggs at record breaking sums from buyers all over the world.

Fabergé family archive transferred to the Moscow Kremlin Museum

PHOTO: an archive of the Fabergé family, which include documents, jewellery sketches, and other various items was transferred to the Moscow Kremlin Museum

In October 2020, the Moscow Kremlin Museum received an archive of the Fabergé family, which included documents, jewellery sketches, and other various items.

According to Elena Gagarina, who heads the museum, “it is gratifying that such a collection ended up not in a private collection, but in a state museum. Now scientists can study it.”

The archive was transferred to the museum under the bequest of Tatiana Fabergé (1930-2020), the great-granddaughter of Carl Fabergé. ce. Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova is sure that the transfer of the archive is a sign of great trust. The archive will allow scientists to learn more about the family of the jeweller and his descendants.

The archive reflects the life of the Fabergé family over a century. Historical materials cover the period that begin even before the October Revolution. Among the documents are photographs, auction catalogues, business papers and personal documents of the descendants of Fabergé. The museum was also given a bust of Carl Fabergé, made during the life of the founder of the famous jewellery house. The archive also includes materials related to the Sheremetev family, the maternal relatives of Tatiana Fabergé.

After the emigration of the founders of the company, the history of Fabergé was not studied closely enough. The archive will open new pages in the life of the old family.

Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg

PHOTO: Main entrance to the Fabergé Museum located in the former Shuvalov Palace on the Fontanka River Embankment. in St. Petersburg

On 19th November 2013, the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg opened its doors.

The Fabergé Museum is a privately owned museum which was established by Viktor Vekselberg and his Link of Times Foundation in order to repatriate lost cultural valuables to Russia. The museum, located in the former Shuvalov Palace on the Fontanka River Embankment. Today, it houses the world’s largest collection of pieces made by the famous Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920).

The museum’s collection contains more than 4,000 works (including the former collection of Malcolm Forbes ) of decorative applied and fine arts, including gold and silver items, paintings, porcelain and bronze. The highlight of the museum’s collection is the group of nine Imperial Easter eggs created by Fabergé for the last two Russian Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II.

PHOTO: The Fabergé Museum’s collection contains more than 4,000 works including the former collection of Malcolm Forbes

The handsome portrait of Emperor Nicholas II seen in the glass display case in the Fabergé Mseum, depicts Russia’s last Tsar in the uniform of the His Majesty’s Life-Guards Hussar Regiment.

The frame created by Fabergé was a gift to the Empress Maria Feodorovna. It is made of rock crystal, gold-rimmed with green guilloche enamel. Along the perimeter there is an ornament of intertwining laurel branches. Along the side there are pink guilloche-enamel medallions with images of the coat of arms, fittings, crowns, and in the central upper part – the monogram of Maria Feodorovna.

The frame was made by the chief craftsman of the company Mikhail Perkhin between 1898-1903.

Over the past seven years, the Fabergé Museum has become one of the most popular tourist sites in St. Petersburg. The author of this article, had visited the Fabergé Museum on two occasions and consider it one of the city’s finest museums – PG

Kremlin Fabergé collection to get new home in Moscow

In July 2023, the Moscow Kremlin Museums announced that the museum’s Fabergé Collection, which is part of the Collection of the State Armoury Chamber Museum will be moved to a massive new museum complex located on Red Square.

The new K5 museum – which has been under construction for nearly a decade – will feature a “large Fabergé Hall” to showcase the 10 Imperial Easter Eggs and other Fabergé items from the museum’s collection. The new complex was scheduled to open in 2024, however, sanctions imposed by the EU have halted delivery of large glass display cases needed for the new museum.

Monuments to Peter Carol Fabergé

On the left, is a bust-monument to Carl Fabergé in St. Petersburg. The memorial was installed on Carl Fabergé Square, situated in he Krasnogvardeisky district of the former capital of the Russian Empire. The square remained nameless for years, and in the autumn of 1998, that it was named after the famous St. Petersburg jeweller.

Work began on the six-meter bust-monument in May 1996, by the St. Petersburg sculptors Valentin Ivanov and Leonid Aristov. The design and layout were carried out by architect Boris Grishko.

The bust of the jeweller is carved from the black gabbro stone. The base of the monument consists of three square slabs arranged in steps. They are decorated with a pattern and spherical lamps. A three-meter column of gray-pink granite is installed on the pedestal. On it there is a laconic inscription “Carl Fabergé”, decorated with axelbants, a wreath of roses and a double-headed eagle.

On 19th December 1997, Tatiana Feodorovna Fabergé (1930-2020), arrived from Geneva for the opening of the commemorative monument. The event was timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the founder of the jewellry dynasty, but took place one year later.

Two years after the solemn installation of the monument, thanks to the petition of the Russian Gems enterprise, the nameless square acquired its name. Since 7th September 1998, the square has proudly borne the name of Carl Fabergé.

On the right is a bronze memorial bas-relief plaque to Carl Fabergé, which was installed on 6th December 2011, on the façade of the building on Khreshchatyk Street, which during early 20th century housed the former Fabergé shop/workshop was located.

Given the current state of Russian-Ukranian relations, it is very likely that this plaque has been removed (or destroyed), like all other monuments, etc. related to the Russian tsars and Imperial Russian history.

Fabergé endures . . .

In the above photo, a group of Russian schoolchildren surround a glass display case containing the Lilies of the Valley Imperial Easter Egg, at the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg . . . their facial expressions says it all.

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Fabergé Museum launches ‘Stories of St. Petersburg Jewellery Houses’ audio tour

Posted on June 25 by Paul Gilbert

The Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg and a local tour operator Невские Сезоны / Nevsky Seasons have launched a new audio tour, which explores the heyday of Russian jewellery art and the outstanding masters of the “Fabergé era”.

The audio tour dubbed Бриллиантовая улица / Diamond Street: Stories of St. Petersburg Jewellery Houses in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries explores key historical sites in the heart of the city, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the splendour of pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg.

The tour begins on Ulitsa Bolshaya Morskaya (Street) – aka the “street of jewellers”. It was here that the most prestigious jewellery shops (more than 20 enterprises) were located, including the House of Carl Fabergé. Many of these jewellers were awarded the title of Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty and created jewellery for members of the Imperial Family.

On Bolshaya Morskaya, visitors will learn about the history of the former premises of these shops, among other sites, including the Ovchinnikov Company at No. 35, which specialized in silver products; as well as the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Artists at No. 42, where the great Russian landscape artist Ivan Shishkin (1832-1898) taught; the building of the Sazikov Company at No. 29, one of the oldest jewellery enterprises in Russia; the shop of the jeweller Friedrich-Daniel Butz; and, of course, the building where the House of Carl Fabergé, at No. 24, is located. The Fabergé building has survived to the present day, however. some visitors will be disappointed to learn, that it is no longer a Fabergé shop.

The tour culminates with a visit to the Fabergé Museum, located in the former Shuvalov Palace on the Fontanka River Embankment. Today, it is one of the most famous cultural sites in St. Petersburg, and one of the TOP-10 most visited museums in Russia. It showcases the world’s largest collection of Fabergé masterpieces in the world – more than 4,000 works (including the former collection of Malcolm Forbes ) of decorative applied and fine arts, including gold and silver items, paintings, porcelain and bronze. The highlight of the museum’s collection are the nine Imperial Easter Eggs created by Fabergé for the last two Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II. Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs, are considered a symbol of the lost Russian Empire.

The audio tour was developed by the staff at the Fabergé Museum. Tours run twice a week: on Thursdays and Saturdays at 17:00. The starting point of the tour is the Astoria Hotel – the historic five-star luxury hotel, opened in 1912..

Icon that belonged to Nicholas II donated to the Louvre

Posted on April 11 by Paul Gilbert

On Thursday, 10th April 2025, the Société des amis du Louvre [Society of Friends of the Louvre] in Paris announced that it had acquired and donated to the Louvre Museum, a triptych icon that belonged to Russia’s last Tsar.

Created in 1895 by Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin (1860-1903), a leading workmaster of the House of Fabergé, the icon and adorned with precious stones was presented by members of the Russian aristocracy to Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on the occasion of the birth of their daughter and first child Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna [16th (O.S. 3rd) November 1895].

The 30 cm [12 in.] triptych icon was purchased for 2.2 million euros [$2.5 million USD]. It is made of various materials: Karelian birch, oil painting, gilded silver, gold with enamel, pearls, emerald, ruby and sapphires.

During the interwar period, the icon became part of the historical collection of the gallery A La Vieille Russie, based in Paris and then in New York, which had acquired it at the time of the sale of the Romanovs’ jewels and other precious objects by the Bolsheviks in the 1920s.

It has been exhibited only once, at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1977, after which it was stored in the collection of the art dealer Leon Greenberg.

The Society of Friends of the Louvre decided to acquire and donate the icon to the museum “as part of a wider €4 million sponsorship programme aimed at supporting the museum’s major projects, including the creation of a new Department of Byzantine and Christian Oriental Arts”, which is scheduled to open in 2027.

“It will be one of the major works of the new department of the museum, because of its history and its creation by one of the most prestigious goldsmiths of the House of Fabergé, famous for his decorative eggs that marked the end of the Romanov reign,” said a spokesperson for the Louvre Museum

Based in Paris, France the Société des amis du Louvre is a voluntary association created in 1897 whose purpose is to purchase objects of artistic, archaeological or historical value for the museum. It is the largest private patron of the Louvre: today the Society has 67,000 members, , mostly in France, whose contributions and donations allow it to have an annual budget for the acquisition of works of art in the amount of about 3 million euros.

Russian jeweller recreates Fabergé brooch – a gift from Nicholas II to Alexandra Feodorovna

Posted on October 27, 2024 by Paul Gilbert

On 18th October 2024, a diamond aquamarine brooch originally created by Carl Fabergé, and recently recreated by the Russian jewelery firm CHAMOVSKIKH, was presented at the Investing in Jewelry Art and Collectibles exhibit at the Moscow Financial Forum. The brooch is dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna in 1894.

The famous Russian jeweler has recreated a historical piece of jewelry — a brooch with a 114-carat Siberian aquamarine with a trellis border of rose diamonds, that Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich (future Emperor Nicholas II) purchased from Carl Fabergé as a wedding gift for his bride Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna (née Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna).

The receipt and the date of purchase have been preserved – 10 August, 1894, (three months before their wedding), for 1100 rubles. The receipt was signed by Henrich Wigström (1862-1923), one of Fabergé’s most important workmasters.

The brooch was presented to Princess Alix on 10th August 1894. The wedding was held on 27th (O.S. 14th) November 1894. The ceremony took place in the Grand Church (the home church of the Imperial Family) of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the service was presided over by the Archpriest Ioann Yanyshev (1826-1910).

Plans for the wedding, had originally been set for the spring of 1895, however, the death of Emperor Alexander III put an end to such plans. Due to court mourning, there was no reception, nor honeymoon.

During the Soviet years, the Empress’s favourite brooch was sold to a foreign buyer (see below), repeating the fate of many other Russian-made jewelry masterpieces.

The following video explores the history of Fabergé’s diamond brooch with Siberian aquamarine and it’s recreation by modern-day masters of the CHAMOVSKIKH Jewelery House.

CLICK on the above image to watch the VIDEO
Duration: 3 minutes, 4 seconds. Language: Русский / Russian

PHOTO: the real Fabergé Siberian aquamarine and diamond brooch
on display at Wartski (London) in December 2014. © Forbes Magazine

The brooch was later purchased by the famous British jeweller Emanuel Snowman (1886-1970) during a trip to Moscow during the Soviet years, and it is among the Tsars’ confiscated treasures. Apparently sewn into clothing, it accompanied the Tsar and his family when they were sent to Yekaterinburg. After the murder of the Romanovs, the brooch, along with pieces of jewelry, was on the list of personal effects found with the bodies.

For a long time, nothing was known about Alexandra Feodorovna’s aquamarines. But in 2014, the Empress’s aquamarine tiara surfaced at Christie’s closed auction. The organizers of the auction kept the names of the seller and the buyer secret, it was only indicated that the jewelry was the property of one of the European noble families. And the original brooch was bought and stored in the British Wartski Gallery.

Following the jewelry exhibition in Moscow, the brooch with a 114-carat Siberian aquamarine with a trellis border of rose diamonds was handed over to the Gokhran of the Russian Federation.

New Fabergé exhibition opens in Vladivostock

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Paul Gilbert

On 5th September 2024, a new exhibition The Age of Fabergé. The Golden Age of Russian Jewelry Art opened at the Arseniev Museum-Reserve of the History of the Far East, situated in Vladivostock. The exhibition is a joint project with the State Armoury Chamber Museum of the Moscow Kremlin.

Grandiose in terms of the number of valuable exhibits from the funds of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, the exhibition showcases about 300 items, including three Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II for his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, for Easter in 1908, 1913 and 1916 respectively.

The Imperial Easter Eggs held in the Moscow Kremlin Museums are only ten Imperial Fabergé eggs that were not sold by the Bolsheviks in the 1920s, and are now held in the funds of the State Armoury Chamber Museum of the Moscow Kremlin. The Armoury Museum will be moving to a massive new museum complex, located on Red Square in 2024.

The famous Imperial Easter Eggs with intricate surprises, commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II, occupy a central place at the exhibition: the Alexander Palace Egg, gifted to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (Easter 1908) ; the Romanov Tercentenary Egg, gifted to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (Easter 1913); and the Steel Military Egg, gifted to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (Easter 1916).

PHOTO: the Alexander Palace Egg (1908). Moscow Kremlin Museums

PHOTO: the Romanov Tercentenary egg (1913). Moscow Kremlin Museums

PHOTO: the Steel Military Egg (1916). Moscow Kremlin Museums

The exhibition showcases about 300 items, including masterpieces of the famous Russian firm of Carl Fabergé (1846-1920) as well as works of his contemporaries, including Suppliers of the Imperial Court I. Khlebnikov, P. Ovchinnikov, the Grachev brothers, F. Kechli, as well as other firms, factories, workshops and artels. The three Imperial Easter Eggs on display, were created by the chief jeweler of the Fabergé firm, Henrik Wigström (1862-1923).

In addition to exclusive and commissioned works, are gifts from the Guards to their august chiefs, seals with the coats of arms of members of the Romanov family, stone-cutting products of the Ekaterinburg Imperial Lapidary Factory bearing Imperial monograms, and precious church utensils for the Marfo-Mariinsky (Martha and Mary) Convent in Moscow, the abbess of which was Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (1864-1918).

The Age of Fabergé. The Golden Age of Russian Jewelry Art exhibition runs until 12th January 2025 at the Arseniev Museum-Reserve of the History of the Far East in Vladivostock.

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PHOTO: the Arseniev Museum-Reserve of the History of the Far East, situated in Vladivostock

The memorial house was built at the beginning of the 20th century. Vladimir Klavdievich Arsenyev (1872-1930) moved into apartment number 4 on the second floor in June 1929. He was a famous Russian traveler, geographer, ethnographer, local historian, writer, and explorer who made a significant contribution to the development of the Far East.

Fabergé items added to the funds of the Nicholas II museum in Kotelniki

Posted on July 30, 2024 by Paul Gilbert

Lyudmila Grosarchuk, curator of the museum Museum in Memory of
Emperor Nicholas II and his Family presents a valet bell by Carl Fabergé.
Photo © Olga Feldfebeleva

On 29th July 2024, the Museum in Memory of Emperor Nicholas II and his Family in Kotelniki (near Moscow), held a press conference, in which they presented a number of beautiful Fabergé items, which the museum recently added to their collection.

“Each item has its own unique story,” said Lyudmila Grosarchuk, curator of the museum. “While the famous jeweler Carl Fabergé is well known for his magnificent Imperial Easter Egg creations, he is less known for many household items for the Imperial Family. For example, a thermometer and a valet bell from his factory are now part of our collection. New additions also include several Fabergé photo frames. By the way, the Fabergé company still exists, it is located in France. And in our collection there are copies of his famous Imperial Easter Eggs[1], made at a modern factory in France,” she added.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna loved modern things that made life easier for her servants in the Imperial residences: the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, the Lower Dacha in Peterhof, and Livadia Palace in Crimea. One of these items turned out to be a room thermometer.

“Thermometers were made by the famous jeweler and were located in almost every room of the Imperial Family’s private apartments in the Winter Palace. Another interesting new item in our collection is an electric valet bell, which was a rarity at the beginning of the 20th century, it served to call a personal attendant to the Tsar or Tsarina. The bell came to our museum in bad condition, however, it has now been restore it to working order,” said Lyudmila Grosarchuk.

The museum also has two truly unique exhibits. The first is an altar cross with an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Akhtyrka, painted by Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, sister of Nicholas II. The second exhibit is directly related to the last Emperor. This is a gold watch (see photo above) that Nicholas II presented to the best handicraftsman at the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896, held in Nizhny Novgorod. The Emperor was so impressed by the skill of the handicraftsman, so he awarded him with a personalized gold watch.

“The museum is actively looking for more rarities to add to their funds, as well as the scientific study by the museum to establish the authenticity of each object which is acquired for their collection. The museum’s growing collection is the merit of our trustee Viktor Semyonov, who wants to show visitors something interesting, expanding their knowledge of the Imperial Family and opening the pages of our history with new facts,” Lyudmila Grosarchuk concluded.

NOTES:

[1] The Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg, currently holds 9 Imperial Easter Eggs, while the Armoury Museum in Moscow has 10 Imperial Easter Eggs in it’s collection.

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The Museum in Memory of Emperor Nicholas II and His Family

CLICK on the VIDEO above for a tour of the Museum in Memory of Emperor Nicholas II and his Family. Note the wonderful framed portraits of the Tsar hanging in the rooms of the museum. The VIDEO is in Russian only, however, do not allow that to stop you from enjoying what this unique museum has to offer visitors. Duration: 1 minute, 47 seconds.

The little-known Museum in Memory of Emperor Nicholas II and His Family was established in November 2023, in the Belaya (White) Dacha Estate, which is located the former village of Kotelniki, now part of the Moscow region. It is the latest in a several museums dedicated to the last Tsar and his family to be established in recent years in the Russian Federation.

Below, are a selection of photographs which showcase some of the interiors of the museum, although the VIDEO above, shows them in greater detail, as well as the personal items and memorabiliar associated with Emperor Nicholas II and his family:

Kremlin Fabergé collection to get new home in 2024

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: view of the display case in the Armoury Museum containing 10 Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs, among other items

According to Elena Gagarina[1], director of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, the Collection of the State Armoury Chamber Museum will be moved to a massive new museum complex located on Red Square in 2024. The new K5 museum – which has been under construction for nearly a decade – will feature a “large Fabergé Hall” to showcase the 10 Imperial Easter Eggs[2] and other Fabergé items from the museum’s collection.

The Moscow Kremlin Museums were founded on 10th March 1806, when Emperor Alexander I (1777-1825) issued a decree on the creation of the Armoury, as a treasury of the Romanov dynasty. It preserves more than 4,000 items related to the life of the imperial, grand-ducal and patriarchal courts.

The creation of a new building to house the Armoury Chamber collection has been under construction in the Middle Trading Rows, which is situated on Red Square, next to the GUM Department Store and across from St. Basil’s Cathedral.

Elena Gagarina notes that the Armoury Chamber’s collection is so large that it is simply impossible to display the museum’s vast collection, most of which is in storage. In addition, she noted that due to the constraints of the museum being within the Kremlin make it difficult to host major exhibitions.

PHOTO: the Moscow Kremlin Museum’s new K5 Museum will be housed in the Middle Trading Rows, situated on Red Square, across from the iconic St. Basil’s Cathedral

She further stressed the fact that it is important that the Kremlin Museum now expands beyond the Kremlin wall, not just because of current space limitations, but also for the museum’s collection to be displayed in a modern museum setting, similar to those in many European cities. The new modern facility will feature an area for receiving visitors, ticket offices, lecture halls, restoration workshops, storage facilities, shops and restaurants. The new venue will allow for temporary expositions and special exhibitions.

It was in 2016 the Moscow Government signed a decree transferring the building of the Middle Trading Rows to the State Kremlin Museum, which will house the bulk of the collection of the Armoury Chamber Museum. Some items, including those related to coronations and state regalia will remain in the original Armoury Museum.

The K5 Museum complex includes the Middle Trading Rows and a new building constructed within the perimeter of the historic building. The new building is completely hidden behind the 19th-century façade, thus preserving the historically established composition of Red Square, included by UNESCO in it’s list of World Heritage Sites.

PHOTO: Elena Gagarina, director of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, the Collection of the State Armoury Museum.

The new K5 Museum will include a Fabergé Hall

Of particular interest to visitors to the new K5 Museum will will be a “large Fabergé Hall” which will showcase the Armoury Chamber’s 10 Imperial Easter Eggs and other Fabergé items from the museum’s collection. Each Easter egg will be presented in a separate showcase. Many more items that are associated with the master will be displayed in other glass display showcases.

According to Gagarina, the new museum has plans to host large Fabergé exhibitions, in cooperation with the State Hermitage Museum, the suburban palace museums of St. Petersburg, the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg, and from private collections in Russia.

Over the past decade, the Armoury Chamber’s Fabergé collection has grown, thanks to generosity of gifts made by Russian oligarchs and corporations. In 2020, the museum received as a gift the archive of Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920), which was kept by his great-granddaughter, Tatiana Feodorovna Fabergé (1930-2020). She wanted the vast family archive of documents to be transferred to the Moscow Kremlin Museum.

During her lifetime, Tatiana Fabergé made numerous visits to the Kremlin Museum, and maintained good relations with Tatiana Nikolaevna Muntean, the curator of the Armoury Chamber’s Faberge collection. The circle of people who organize exhibitions and conferences, as well as those who write books and papers about Faberge, is quite small, and everyone knows each other. They communicate on a regular basis, to assess and discuss their research and discoveries.

According to Gagarina, it was Tatiana Fabergé’s with that the Fabergé archive be kept in a state museum, and under no circumstances should it fall into private hands.

The new K5 Museum was scheduled to open in September 2022, however, construction was interrupted by the COVID epidemic, which hit Russia very hard. In addition, the move was further delayed due to problems with getting showcases, which were being made in the UK. The exhibits from the Armoury Chamber Museum are expected to be moved to the new building sometime this year. The new museum is now scheduled to open to visitors by the end of 2024

NOTES:

[1] Elena Yurievna Gagarina [b. 1959] is the daughter of the famous Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968)

[2] Between 1930 and 1933, 14 imperial eggs left Russia. Many of the eggs were sold to Armand Hammer (president of Occidental Petroleum and a personal friend of Lenin, whose father was founder of the United States Communist Party) and to Emanuel Snowman of the London antique dealers Wartski.