Faberge eggs essay

FABERGE EGGS
Jenna Grimbeek
I decided to write about Faberge eggs, the artist, founder and amazing yet devistating history behind them.

It all started in Russia in 1885, with the royal family and a love for Peter Carl Faberge’s jewelled eggs. The founder of the jewelley company was Gustav Faberge (Peter Carl Faberges father) who retired in 1860 and passed his workshop onto his son.

Carl Faberge studied to become a goldsmith for 20 years in England, Germany and France. He then continued to be trained in making Faberge eggs for another 10 years by Hiskia Pendin in his fathers workshop – who was mannaging the workshop after Gustav Faberge retired. After Pendin passed away Carl Faberge was awarded with the title of Master Goldsmith and began to run his fathers company.

In Russia, after the church services on Easter, everyone would gather around to give and receive decorated eggs, this symbolised renewed life and hope. In 1885 the twentieth anniversary of Czar Alexander III and Czarina Maria Fedorvona fell on the day of Easter and so as a gift Czar Alexander III ordered a Faberge egg to be made by Peter Carl Faberge in the Faberge workshop for Czarina Maria. Czarina Maria had noticed his beautiful work and commented on it a few months before the time.

On the morning of Easter Faberge delived the egg to the palace. It seemed to be a simple white enameled egg with a gold band running through the middle, but to the joy of the Empress the egg opened to reveal a golden yolk, in turn this yolk opened to reveal a golden chicken and inside the chicken was a diamond miniture of the royal crown and a tiny ruby egg. Both the crown and the egg have been lost to history through out the years. This faberge egg is knowen as the hen egg.
The empress was so thrilled with the gift that Czar Alexander III asked Faberge to make an egg for her every Easter to come.

Simple rules were layed out for the Faberge eggs to be made, they must all be unique, creatively designed, each egg must open up to reveal a surprise and each must be made and designed in an invetive spirit.
Faberge never let Czar Alexander III down, time and time again he exceeded expectations and presented them with the perfect egg each year by borrowing inspiration from the guiled lives of Czar and Czarina.

After a while Carl Faberge was a welcomed guest to Czar and Czarina and was given freedom to design the eggs on his own. Czar did not even know what the eggs were before receiving the finnished product, he trusted Faberge completely as he had proven himself over the years.

Faberge eggs were made in a very specific way which means that no one, until this day has been able to make an exact replica of origional Faberge egg.
Faberge usually used gold as his base material and so by starting off with a gold sheet of metal he would dome two half egg shapes in a doming block until both halves of the egg met precisely. He would then make two large golden bands (called an outer and inner sleve) these bands ran around the outside and inside of the domes allowing them to clip into each other and fit snugly together.
A hinge was made out of chenier with a supporting pin, which allowed the opening and closing movement of the egg, and in turn a hand made clasp was piecerd out to make opening and closing the egg easier.

The decorations on the eggs obviously differ from egg to egg but they could be carved, engraved, etched or pierced out of plate and then soldered on. Once the basics were done and the egg looked neat, the enamel would be applied. The enamel was Faberges most well kept secret. He mixed his own enamels to create a colour and texture that no one has been able to copy. Enamel is basically a fine glass which you grind down into a powder form and then apply with an earbud tip or a toothpick. Once the enamel colours are in place the item is put in the kiln and the tiny bits of glass all melt together to form a smooth colourful layer. After the enamel was finnished stones cold be set into the golden patterns (eg. Swiss settings and channel settings.)

In 1894 the czar fell ill and he passed away suddenly in the prime of life. His son, Nicholas II accends the throne with deep sorrow and immense fear. He was untrained, un-ready to take on such great reponsibilty and worried what would happen to himself as well as what would happen to Russia. He decided that since he knew so little about running the country he would follow everything his father did. He kept his fathers traditions running not only in Russia but within his family too.

Each year, in remeberance of his father Czar Nicholas oredered a Faberge egg for his mother and his new wife Czarina Alexandra Fedrovona.

In 1900 Faberges eggs were showen to the public in an exhibition, the works of art astonded the jury and the public and Faberge’s fame began to grow. All of a sudden Faberges workshop was flooded with commisions, turning an ordanary workshop into “The House of Faberge.” As Faberge’s fame grew he produced eggs for other people too, including eggs for medical foundations, railways and other important companies to show his gratitude to them for the services they provide. Faberge always saw the Czar and Czarina as his main priority.

Year after year Faberges eggs continued to excell in excelance, these brilliant masterpieces kept becoming more beautiful, more intricate, but eventually they would serve no more than a painful reminder of what was to come.

The fifteenth anniversary egg was the most amazing one yet. A family album 5 inches tall. It contained pictures of the family, wedding, important family events and was the most personal, most accurate egg to match the lives of the Czar and Czarina.

In the fist few months of World War 1 Czar Nicholas tried to keep his county safe from the terrors of the war, but he was no match against Germany and eventually famine set upon their land. The nation was scared, people began to riot and strike for bread and without the support of his people, Czar Nicholas was forced to abdocate his throne in 1917, March the 15th.
The very next day an arrest warrant was put out for the Czar and his entire family. They were taken to Siberia and held captive there for a year. On the icy morning of July 17th, 1918, Maria, Nicholas, Alexandra and their five children (Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei were taken to a basement to be executed.
They all died there that day except for one… Maria, Nicholas’s mother managed to excape and made a hasty departure from her homeland with the order of st. George egg, the last Faberge egg she would ever receive from her son.

At the same time Faberge was forced to flee the county and is said to have died two years later from a broken heart. He lost all he had worked for, his most valuable and cared for customers and friends. It is said that his book of instructions on how to make the faberge eggs and the enamels that he used were buried in Rusia before he fled. He died along with his sectrets and to this day no one can make a replica of an origional Faberge egg.

The faberge eggs were stolen from the palace and placed in the custody of the government at that time, however along the way some got stolen and lost. Today out of the 50 faberge eggs ever made, only 42 remain. Most of them have been sold to different countries now for money. Infact there are more Faberge eggs in America now than there are in Russia itself.

Today origional Faberge eggs are nearly impossible to come by, as there are only 42 left in the world (that we know of.) These eggs are almost impossible to buy as they are so rare, difficult to come by, not many are for sale and they are priceless masterpieces today. Faberge eggs are hugely sought after as a collector’s item, any one who can afford these eggs are very high up and extremely wealthy, most of us could only dream of the honor to see one, let alone own one.

The reason I chose to write about faberge eggs is because they are so unique, special and valuable… That’s what I would like to achieve in my jewellery making one day. I strive to create one of a kind, special and valuable items that have sentimental value to my clients. I find Faberge’s knowledge of jewellery manufacture abosolutly inspiring. I admire his passion for art, studying for 30 years in Russia, England, Germany and France is something to be proud of. I would love to be able to create unique and creative items one day.

The fun, loving and festive spirit the Faberge eggs used to represent is no longer. These eggs are now just a painful reminder of the terrible pain and suffering that that family went through. It reminds us of the greed and evil that this world holds. However they are too an amazing piece of history that the world holds onto until this day.


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Search engine: www.google.com
Web sites visited:
• History of Faberge Eggs: An Easter tradition for the Romanovs become collector's items and tokens of Imperial Russia. | Suite101.com

• http://www.suite101.com/content/fabergeeggs-a1043#ixzz1KFDJskpu

• http://EzineArticles.com/1441478

• http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/faberge/fmain.html