Faberge In America

NEW YORK CITY -- Nearly 400 precious Faberge objects - including 15 of the 44 extant imperial Easter eggs specially commissioned by the last Russian czars - are on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Faberge in America" launches the first national tour of the greatest American collections of the work of the legendary jeweler and goldsmith Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920). The exhibition focuses for the first time on the social history of American collecting of Faberge over a span of almost a hundred years, a period that witnessed a growing fascination with imperial Russia. The exhibition coincides with the 150th anniversary of the birth of Peter Carl Faberge.

The exhibition has been organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Included is the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of Faberge, which has been organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The objects on view come primarily from the collections assembled by five Americans who, beginning as early as the 1930s, formed major holdings of Faberge and have since put their collections on public view at various institutions across the country: Matilda Geddings Gray (New Orleans Museum of Art), India Early Minshall (Cleveland Museum of Art), Lillian Thomas Pratt (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond), Marjorie Merriweather Post (Hillwood Museum, Washington, DC) and Malcolm S. Forbes (The Forbes Galleries, New York). Also featured are significant Faberge works collection by many other prominent Americans whose collections were later dispersed.

Faberge was at the forefront of Russia's artistic revival, working fluently in a range of historical styles from antiquity to Art Nouveau, even adjusting to the somber mood of World War I. The House of Faberge secured its fame during the reigns of Czars Alexander III (1882-1894) and Nicholas II (1894-1917) by creating extraordinarily imaginative objects for its imperial patrons. Admirable for their ingenuity of design and fine craftsmanship, Faberge pieces are no less notable for the subtly contrasting materials of which they are made - colored golds, shimmering enamels, platinized silver, gemstones, ivory and a host of semi-precious stones native to Russia, such as nephrite, rock crystal and lapis lazuli. With such materials, Faberge produced objects of use and fantasy of which the imperial Easter eggs are perhaps the summation of his wit and skill.

"Faberge in America" is organized chronologically, not by dates of the works themselves, but by the periods during which they entered American collections. The exhibition begins with the period before World War I, when Faberge pieces were acquired by several of the wealthiest Americans who traveled to St. Petersburg and London, often purchasing their works from the master himself. On view are works acquired by clients such as Henry C. Walters of Baltimore, who visited Faberge's shop several times in 1900 and is considered the first American collector of this material, followed by the Duchess of Marlborough (Consuelo Vanderbilt) and J.P. Morgan, Jr.

The next section covers the period from 1920 to 1950, when the greatest Faberge collections in the United States were formed. Because of the changed political climate and the need to raise capital, the Soviets began selling portions of their newly nationalized collections, creating a significant market for the art of pre-Revolutionary Russia, including the work of Faberge. Sparked by several innovative exhibitions of such treasures that were organized in the United States by Armand Hammer - one of the few Americans privileged to do business in post-Revolutionary Russia - and fueled by the tragic story of the Czar and his family and romantic notions of the legendary empire, American interest in collecting Faberge increased dramatically. In addition, a substantial number of Faberge works had been brought to the United States by imperial family members and other wealthy immigrants from Russia, who often used their collections as gifts and even currency in establishing themselves in their new home.

As the market grew, two New York galleries - Hammer and A La Vieille Russie - emerged as the dominant force in introducing the beauty of Faberge to the public through their exhibitions. Many of the highlights of the exhibition come from the renowned collections that were formed with the help of these dealers. Matilda Gedding Gray of New Orleans and Lake Charles, La., acquired more than 50 works, including the "Lilies of the Valley Basket" (1896), which was Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna's favorite Faberge object and is among Faberge's most magical creations. From the collection of India Early Minshall are delicate flower studies made of pearls, diamonds, jade and gold set in rock crystal vases carved to look as if they contain water. The "Red Cross Egg," presented by Nicholas II to his wife in 1915, and also from the Minshall collection, is emblematic of the circumstances and time of its creation. The "Peter the Great Egg" (1903) and "Czarevich Egg" (1912) are just two of the four imperial eggs among the 57 objects on view that were collected by Lillian Thomas Pratt.

Cereal heiress and philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post was the only one of the five principal Faberge collectors to actually live in Russia - for 18 months in the late 1930s with her husband Joseph E. Davis, then US Ambassador to the Soviet Union. Although Post did not purchase any of her nearly 90 pieces of Faberge during this tenure - most of it had already been exported by the Hammers or sold independently - she developed an abiding appreciation for Russian art and aesthetics that complemented her other collections of French furniture, tapestries and porcelain. Among the Faberge works from the Post collection in the exhibition are carved hardstone and diamond boxes, intricately decorated gold and ivory frames, and an elaborate table clock that once belonged to Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.

Between 1950 and 1980, the most distinguished collection of Faberge in America - and perhaps the premiere collection in the world - was formed by Malcolm S. Forbes. The Forbes Magazine Collection is renowned for its 12 imperial Easter eggs, five of which are featured in the exhibition, including the "Coronation Egg" (1897) and "Lilies of the Valley Egg" (1898). Many of the works in the Forbes collection were part of two earlier celebrated Faberge collections, those of Jack and Belle Linsky, and Helen and Lansdell K. Christie, which were dispersed through sales at a La Vieille Russie.

The final section of "Faberge in America" displays forgeries. Since the late 1930s, when the price for Faberge began to rise, forgers have been active in attempting to cash in on the value of his works and the passion with which they are collected. While straight copies or exact replicas are generally easy to identify, some forgeries are so well executed that even the experts of Faberge's oeuvre have been deceived.

Peter Carl Faberge was born in St. Petersburg, the first son of established jeweler Gustav Faberge. At the age of 16 he started working for his father's firm, which he had taken over by 1866. In 1882 he was joined by his younger brother, Agathon, a brilliant designer, and the firm rapidly gained recognition, winning the Gold Medal for the 1882 Pan-Russian exhibition, where the wife of Czar Alexander III purchased one of their works. The imperial warrants of "Supplier to the Imperial Court" and "Appraiser of the Imperial Cabinet" were given to the House of Faberge in 1885 and 1890, respectively. In 1900 they received the gold medal from the Paris Exposition Universelle. Branches of the firm opened in Moscow in 1887 and in London in 1903. Peter Carl Faberge was a creative genius and gifted entrepreneur who led a team of accomplished craftsmen in producing some of the most beautiful, original and technically superb fine jewelry and metalwork ever created.

Archduke Dr Geza von Habsburg, noted author and international authority on Faberge, is the guest curator of "Faberge in America." The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue by Geza von Habsburg with biographical essays about the collectors by John Webster Keefe, curator of decorative arts at the New Orleans Museum of Art; Henry Hawley, chief curator of later Western Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art; David Park Curry, curator of American arts at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Anne Odom, chief curator of the Hillwood Museum; and Christopher Forbes, vice chairman of Forbes. The catalogue also includes an appendix documenting the early American collections of Faberge.

At the Metropolitan, "Faberge in America" was organized by Clare Le Corbeiller, curator of European sculpture and decorative arts. Following the Metropolitan Museum's presentation, the exhibition will travel to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum (May 25 to July 28, 1996), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (August 24 to November 3, 1996), the New Orleans Museum of Art (December 7, 1996 to February 9, 1997) and the Cleveland Museum of Art (March 12 to May 11, 1997).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is at 1000 Fifth Avenue, telephone 212/879-5500.