Antiques and the Arts Book Review


	Faberge in America
	By Geza von Habsburg
Thames and Hudson, New York, 1996, $50 hardcover. Published on the occasion of the exhibition "Faberge In America," organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

The outstanding legacy of the Russian goldsmith and jeweler Carl Faberge has captured the public's imagination for many years. During his lifetime, Faberge's exquisitely made jewelry and fantastically extravagant objets d'art brought him patronage from the world's most affluent people, including royalty. Throughout this century his work has avidly been collected. Faberge in America is the first book dedicated to the works that have been amassed by American collectors. More than just an assembly of objects and names, it places the social history of American collecting against the backdrop of the nation's ongoing fascination with imperial Russia. Spanning almost a century of collecting, the book combines biographical accounts of the most important American Faberge clients and collectors with photographs of the treasures. Following a brief background history of the House of Faberge, the first section of the book is devoted to the period before World War I and the objects acquired by Americans in St Petersburg and London during Faberge's lifetime. The second part covers the years between 1930 and 1950 when, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, members of the royal family and aristocrats brought Faberge treasures to America. In was during this period that the first great American collections were formed, including those of Matilda Geddings Gray, India Early Marshall, Lillian Thomas Pratt and Marjorie Merryweather Post. A final section looks at the collections formed between 1950 and the present, with particular emphasis on Malcolm S. Forbes, who built up what is undoubtedly the biggest and most impressive Faberge collection in the world. Geza von Habsburg, a former president of Christie's in Europe, is a leading authority on Faberge. David Park Curry is curator of American arts at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Christopher Forbes is vice chairman of Forbes Inc and the son of collector Malcolm Forbes. Henry Hawley is chief curator of later Western art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. John Webster Keefe is curator of decorative arts at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Anne Odom is chief curator of the Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C.

Faberge in America

By Geza von Habsburg