How many Faberge eggs are there in the Hermitage?

Egg-clock Rothschild workshop work Carla Faberge, donated by the President Vladimir Putin At the gala reception dedicated to the museum’s 250th anniversary, it became the most discussed museum gift of recent times to the Hermitage. And although the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov when asked by journalists about the donor, he answered evasively: “The patrons donated this to the Hermitage.” The previous owner of the jewelry masterpiece is well known. This is a businessman Alexander Ivanov, collector who founded the Fabergé Museum in Baden-Baden in 2009. However, in an interview with MK, he himself refused to discuss his role: “The egg was donated to Russia, there are no other comments.” The most expensive Faberge eggs sold at auction About $24 million. “Coronation” 1897. Giftedabout Nicholas II empress consort Alexandra Fedorovna. Part of the meeting Malcolm Forbeswhich was purchased Viktor Vekselberg in 2004 with the assistance of an auction Sotheby’s for an amount of about 100 million. $ 18,5 million. “Rothschild’s egg” 1902. Ordered by the Baroness Ephrussi and gave it to her brother Eduard Rothschild in honor of his engagement. Purchased Alexander Ivanov on the auction Christie’s in 2007 for $18,5 million. $ 9,5 million. “Winter Egg” 1913. Made to order Nicholas II as a gift to the mother empress Maria Fedorovna. Purchased by the Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on the auction Christie ‘s in New York in 2002. It was the most expensive imperial egg to make: 24,6 thousand rubles were paid for it. $ 3,14 million. “Pine cone”, 1900. One of the “Kelch eggs” that the Russian entrepreneur Alexander Kelkh ordered from Faberge for my wife Barbarians. Bought at auction Christie ‘s in 1989 year Joanna Kroc, widow of the corporation’s founder McDonald’s Ray Kroc. In 1997, an egg “Pine cone” put up for auction again Christie ‘s in New York, but was not sold because they did not offer more than $2,8 million for it, with an estimate of $3,5–4,5 million. An egg he purchased at auction Christie’s in 2007 for $18,5 million, it might not have reached the Hermitage: in 2013, Ivanov announced a divorce and that part of the collection would go to his ex-wife. However, the list of the most significant items leaving the collection includes: “Rothschild’s egg” did not have. The businessman promised to restore the composition of the collection and actively bought works by Faberge at the 2013 Russian auction in London. It should be noted that the collector himself was a supporter of the creation in Russia of a “unified Faberge museum,” which he proposed to organize on the basis of the Hermitage collection. “The museum could be opened on the Hermitage site,” said Alexander Ivanov TANR, — next to the skeleton of 200–300 works collected from museums, the collection could be exhibited separately Vekselberg and part of the collection of our Faberge Museum in Baden-Baden. But the state has no desire for this, and museum workers are unlikely to agree among themselves.” Indeed, one can hardly seriously expect the consolidation of the Viktor Vekselberg collection, which is based on the former collection of Malcolm Forbes’s imperial Easter eggs and which today operates as a public museum in the palace Naryshkins – Shuvalovs in St. Petersburg, and the Hermitage or some other collection. However, the presidential gift may turn out to be a hint as to where the main collection of works of Russian jewelry of the Fabergé level actually resides. Of the known 71 eggs, according to most estimates, 62 have survived to this day. The vast majority of them are kept in public and private museums. There are 54 known imperial eggs: 46 pieces, made according to the royal order, have survived; the rest are known from descriptions, accounts and old photographs and are considered lost (however, there is still a minimal chance that they will be found – just “Rothschild’s egg” long considered lost). Today it also became known that on December 1, British tax police, with the support of German colleagues, carried out an operation at the Alexander Ivanov Museum in Baden-Baden. British tax authorities accuse the businessman of evading value added tax in the amount of about £70 thousand on items he purchased at UK auctions for his museum. Director of the Faberge Museum Sergey Avtonoshkin denies such accusations, claiming that law enforcement officers did not find anything incriminating during the search. Collectors all over the world are hunting for the works of the legendary jeweler. And the Faberge collection in St. Petersburg boasts as many as nine unique eggs, the price of which exceeds tens of millions of dollars. We’ll tell you about the palace where the Faberge Museum is located, and which rooms you should look into to see the works of the great master.

Faberge Museum on the map

Who is Carl Faberge

Born in 1846 in St. Petersburg in the family of a jeweler of French origin, Gustav Faberge. In one of the prestigious areas of the city on the Neva, the family ran a store. Karl continued his father’s work: he studied in Germany and France, learned the secrets of jewelry craftsmanship during a trip around the world, later worked for free as a restorer in the Imperial Hermitage, and at the age of 26 he took the helm of his father’s company. It is not for nothing that Faberge is called a revolutionary in the jewelry business. He was little interested in the number of precious stones and metals in the product, but the master paid great attention to originality. In his works, Faberge used steel, tin, Karelian birch and other materials atypical for jewelry. 1900s, Carl Faberge at work • Circa 1903, Faberge Firm at 24 Bolshaya Morskaya Street, St. Petersburg. The jeweler constantly studied new directions and gradually moved away from the Renaissance, Rococo and Empire styles that were familiar at that time, relying on Art Nouveau. In 1882, at an exhibition in Moscow, Alexander III became interested in his work – from that moment on, Karl’s career as a supplier to the imperial house began.

History of the museum and palace

The building on the banks of the Fontanka was built in the 1780s for the Counts Vorontsov. Later, the palace was bought by the Naryshkin family, by whose decree another wing was completed. And in 1846, the palace passed to the Shuvalovs, its last pre-revolutionary owners. Under Soviet rule, there were various museums here, a public service center, and during the Great Patriotic War – the headquarters of the local air defense. During the bombing of the city, the palace was seriously damaged. In 2006, the building was transferred to the cultural and historical foundation. To preserve the architectural monument (and then open a museum in it), large-scale restoration work was carried out, lasting from 2006 to 2013. The collection for the museum took several years to assemble. In 2004, over 200 Faberge products were purchased at a foreign auction, among which were nine famous eggs. The rest of the collection was acquired over 10 years at auctions around the world. The museum opened in 2013. Today there is a permanent exhibition and temporary exhibitions are held regularly.

Collection

Now in the premises of the palace, where the Faberge Museum operates, there are over four thousand exhibits. These are not only unique eggs, but also other products by craftsmen from a famous company: from snuff boxes to gift photo frames for emperors and members of their families.

Exhibition halls of the Shuvalov Palace

Acquaintance with the museum begins with a luxurious staircase. It leads to the second floor, where there are ten halls:

The Red Living Room with an exhibition of silver items from the 18th – early 20th centuries and the Golden Room, where gifts from members of the Imperial House and Faberge’s “fantasy items” are presented. Among the latter is a miniature figurine of a dancing man, made of gems with sapphires and a thin gold belt.

Red living room • Blue living room • White and Blue living rooms. Photo: blog “Familiar and Unfamiliar Petersburg”; Faberge Museum website

• The Knights’ Hall, which is decorated with bas-reliefs on the theme of the War of 1812 and scenes of tournaments. His collection contains gifts to officers from Russian emperors. For example, a set of silver cups in the form of buckets from which horses were fed.

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Knight’s Hall • Antechamber • Exhibition Hall • Gothic Hall. Photo: blog “Familiar and Unfamiliar Petersburg”; Faberge Museum website

Imperial Jewelry Eggs

The history of this collection began in 1885, when Alexander III decided to order a gift from Faberge for his wife Maria Feodorovna. The surprise was intended for the Easter holiday, and with it began the tradition of annually giving luxury jewelry eggs to members of the emperor’s family during Holy Week.

The first in the collection was “Chicken,” which was made for the wife of Alexander III. Laconic on the outside, in a simple shell made of white enamel, inside it hides a graceful bird in a gold yolk. Moreover, the chicken is made so carefully that if you look closely, you can see the feathers on the wings. The hen originally contained a miniature crown and a tiny pendant in the shape of a ruby ​​egg, but today their whereabouts are unknown.

Faberge never repeated himself. Each egg was unique and made in a single copy, with various surprises inside. For example, in “Coronation”, which is dedicated to the accession to the throne of Nicholas II, a miniature carriage is hidden. It was made with amazing precision: the wheels spin and spring on springs, both doors open, there are special steps on both sides – they were installed in carriages to make it convenient to climb into the carriage.

Jewelry eggs “Hen” and “Coronation”. Photo: Faberge Museum website

In total, about 50 eggs were made for the imperial family. A whole team of jewelers worked on each of them. The creation process took about a year.

There are currently nine Faberge eggs in the museum’s collection. 10 others can be viewed in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, another one is in the collections of the Hermitage and the Mineralogical Museum. The fate of the rest is unknown.

Other exhibits

In addition to the imperial eggs, the museum’s collection also contains other products from the famous Faberge company – more than a thousand items. For example, a table calendar clock that shows not only the time, but also the day, month and year. Or miniature pendant eggs, which also acted as gifts for Easter. Among them there are original specimens: for example, a figurine of a hare holding an egg made of aventurine in its paws, or a small owl made of agate.

The collection contains many household items decorated with bright enamel. Here you can look at boxes with paintings based on Russian fairy tales, inkwells with elegant ornaments, writing sets and even cigar boxes with a built-in match holder (a compartment where matches were stored).

Another original exhibit of the Faberge Museum in St. Petersburg is the “Ivan Kalita” portmanteau (container for writing instruments). It is made in the form of a figure of a Moscow prince with a money bag in his hands – a gate where you can put pencils.

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Desk calendar clock • Miniature pendant eggs • Casket with enamel miniature “Choice of a Bride by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich” • Inkwell • Portfolio pencil “Ivan Kalita”. Photo: Faberge Museum website

Faberge Museum opening hours

The museum can be visited every day, seven days a week. The halls are open from 10:00 to 20:45. 30 minutes before the museum closes, they stop selling tickets and letting visitors in: the ticket office is open from 09:30 to 20:15.

It is important to know: visiting the exhibition is limited in time. The duration of the session (inspection of collections) is 60 minutes.

Ticket prices

The price of visiting the Fabergé Museum exhibitions depends on the availability of benefits and the age of visitors. For example, a visit will be cheaper for schoolchildren than for adults.

A full ticket per person will cost 500, and a reduced ticket will cost 250 rubles. There is no need to pay for a child under seven years old. For an additional 250 rubles you can rent an audio guide.

Tickets to the Faberge Museum can be purchased at the box office (you can only visit the exhibition on the day of purchase) or online. Those who buy tickets on the museum’s website have an advantage: they are admitted in priority order.

For regular visitors there is an individual “Friend of the Museum” card. It can be purchased online or at the checkout. The card provides a 10% discount in the museum’s store and cafe, entitles you to free admission to the lecture hall (up to five times a year) and other privileges. You can also use the card to go to one of the music concerts that are regularly held here.

Reduced and free visits

Schoolchildren and full-time students of universities and military schools, as well as pensioners, are entitled to benefits: a ticket will cost them 250 rubles instead of 500. Heroes of the USSR and the Russian Federation, veterans of the Great Patriotic War and members of large families can view the exhibition for free. Other preferential categories of citizens are listed on the museum website.

To visit for free or purchase a ticket at a discount, you must present a document confirming your status as a benefit recipient. Please note: you can only view the main (permanent) exhibition for free. For temporary exhibitions you will have to purchase a discounted ticket.

Getting there

The attraction is located in the center of St. Petersburg. Address of the Faberge Museum: Fontanka River embankment, 21.

If you plan to travel by public transport, the easiest way is to use the metro. The simplest options:

• Get off at the Gostiny Dvor or Nevsky Prospekt stop, walk for about 10 minutes along Nevsky Prospekt in the direction of Anichkov Bridge. Having reached it, turn left – from here it is about 100 meters to the museum.
• Take the metro to the “Mayakovskaya” or “Ploshchad Vosstaniya” stops. From here you will have to walk about 15 minutes along Nevsky Prospekt towards the Anichkov Bridge, cross it across the Fontanka and walk along the embankment to the museum. If you don’t want to walk, you can take buses No. 7, 24, 27 or trolleybus No. 10 one stop from the metro stations.

Conclusion

The Faberge Museum is an excellent place for those who want not only to look at the legendary eggs, but also to get acquainted with the jewelry art of the 18th–19th centuries. And given the location of the museum, the visit can be supplemented with a leisurely walk through other sights of St. Petersburg in the company of local guides – this way you will definitely learn more about the city than from any guidebooks.

Author: Anastasia Rybina