Faberge in America - Hardcover

Geza Von Habsburg-Lothringen; David Parks Curry; Faberge (Firm); New York Metropolitan Museum Of Art; Fine Arts Museums Of San Francisco; Von Habsburg, Geza

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500016992 ISBN 13: 9780500016992

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 1996

Synopsis

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 - and throughout this century his work has been avidly 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 exceptional 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 Russian aristocrats brought Faberge treasures to America. It was during this period that the first great American collections were formed, including those of Matilda Geddings Gray, India Early Minshall, Lillian Thomas Pratt, and Marjorie Merriweather Post. A final section looks at the collections formed between 1950 and the present day, with particular emphasis on Malcolm S. Forbes, who built up what is undoubtedly the biggest and most impressive Faberge collection in the world.
Published to accompany a traveling exhibition organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and commemorating the 150th anniversary of the jeweler's birth, Faberge in America provides both a spectacular survey of some of the most beautiful and intriguing objects ever created and an unrivaled history of art collecting in America.

About this title

From Library Journal:

Public fascination with Peter Carl Faberge, master jeweler to Czar Nicholas II, has grown steadily in recent years as a result of several important exhibitions of his art objects and an ever-expanding body of literature documenting his works. This latest contribution is the catalog of an exhibition that is to travel to several U.S. museums during the next year. Von Habsburg (former president of Christie's European auction house and author of Faberge: Imperial Jeweler, LJ 5/15/94) approaches the subject by examining American collections formed over the last century. The opening chapter briefly describes the House of Faberge. Subsequent chapters document individual collections, separating those formed before World War I (while the artist was still alive and his clientele included many wealthy Americans) from those assembled after the 1917 revolution. Superb illustrations of items as diverse as cigarette cases and icon covers?coupled with historical data and the provenance of each object shown?make this book a valuable addition to both art- and history-oriented libraries.?Margarete Gross, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0500016992
• ISBN 13: 9780500016992
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 366