Fantastic, Fabulous Faberge: Cleveland Museum II

As promised, I will continue the story of my recent adventure – a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA.) Viewing the Exhibition called Artistic Luxury-Faberge’, Tiffany and Lalique was wonderful. My earlier article discussed Lalique, you might want to check it out. Since picture taking is a no-no in any museum collection of this ilk, I’d like to thank Laura Andrews of CMA for sharing these marvelous photos.

As a long-time lover of antiques and collectibles, I do know a little bit about a lot and a lot about a few things. But I must plead ignorance; I had NO idea that Faberge’ made so many incredible items. I had, of course, some knowledge of their beautiful, enameled eggs, and knew they were suppliers to the Royalty of Russia and throughout Europe for many years. But this exhibition showed me creations that just amazed me.

For example, who knew they made pieces like the Kremlin Tower Clock. It was made of large pieces of rhodonite from the Ural mountains and depicts the great tower clock at the gate of the Kremlin, surmounted by the imperial double-headed eagle. Awesome!

Another fascinating piece was the vibrant blue enamel and diamond cigarette case. The story goes that Queen Alexandra, an an act of kindness, returned this case to King Edward VII’s Mistress, Alice Keppel, upon his death in 1920. It still contains the stub of the king’s last cigar. (Once again, the attraction of snakes and serpents is noted.)

Without a doubt, the biggest surprise to me was this jeweled flower creation. Called the Imperial Lilies of the Valley Basket, the delicate flowers are nesting in moss of spun gold. This was presented to Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna by the Merchants of Nizhnii Novgorod as a coronation gift. Faberge’ borrowed it for the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. To see it in person was absolutely breathtaking!

It would make sense that with the long, cold Russian winters, a great diversion would be to attend court balls and state dinners. Faberge’ provided exquisite diamond winter scenes and snowflakes on their jewelry to brighten those frigid nights. Wearing this fabulous diamond snowflake brooch would definitely help me forget about the never-ending Wisconsin winters. (But once again, hubby did not take the hint. The pin remained in its enclosure.)

Of course, a Faberge’ exhibit would not be complete without some religious icons. The bejeweled doors were commissioned by St. Petersburg nobility to commemorate the birth of Grand Duchess Olga. It was personalized with the patron saints of her parents, Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna and presented to them on November 3, 1895.

One can only dream of finding one of their creations at an estate sale or auction, but if you cannot own one, viewing them is the next best thing. It was throughly enjoyed. The collection, although not in its entirety is heading to San Francisco, California for display.

My next blog will be on the ‘two Tiffanys.’ Prepare to be dazzled!