Fabergé

Peter Karl (1846-1920). Russian jeweler. He was a descendent of a Huguenot family and born Piccardie. In 1870, he was at the head of his father Gustave’s goldsmith workshop in St. Petersburg after having traveled to Germany, France, England, and Italy in order to learn the secrets of the trade. In 1882, he won the Gold Medal at the Artisan and Industrial Exhibition of Moscow, drawing the attention of the Empress Maria Fiodorovna, who would commission jewellery from him in the ancient Greek style. Together with his brother Agafon, Peter Karl had, in fact, achieved fame thanks to the manufacture of copies of Greek jewellery found in the archaeological excavations at Kerc. Appointed supplier to the imperial court in 1885, together with jewellery manufacturing — essentially sets of jewellery based on stylized floral motifs and on gems with a cabochon cut — the young Fabergé promoted the manufacture of refined objets d’art which enjoyed great success among both the Russian and international public. Among his clients were the kings and queens of Europe, the court of Siam, and American industrialists such as John D. Rockfeller. In 1887, a Moscow branch was opened, with one in Odessa in 1900, in Kiev between 1905 and ’10, and in London in 1903. The goldsmiths of the Fabergé house would visit the Hermitage to study and copy antique jewels from the time of Catherine II, applying an antique style to creations suitable to the taste of the late 1800s. The expansion of the business resulted in the opening of independent ateliers which worked exclusively for Fabergé. Afterwards, the best masters would come to the main workshop in St. Petersburg, in a building on the Bol’saja Morskaia. The entry of his children Eugène, Agafon, Alexandre, and Nicolas in the family firm brought new energy to the business. Guilloché enamels applied both to jewellery and objects were favored: boxes, cigarette cases, trays, clocks, frames, icons, and silverware. More than a hundred different colors were used to cover gold with iridescent reflections and enrich the colors of semi-precious stones, Fabergé’s favorites, and of gems and pearls. In 1883 came the first orders from the imperial court for the famous Easter eggs, which would continue until 1916. Small masterpieces of technical ingenuity, they were inspired by important events of Romanov family life under the rule of Czars Alexander III and Nicolas II. There were sixty eggs in all, each in a different shape and of such extraordinary invention as to stir the admiration of the entire world. The jewellery, which continued to be characterized by references to the past and a taste for the East, acquired some Art Nouveau touches around 1910. After the fall of the Romanovs with the Russian Revolution, the house ceased operations, closing for good in 1918.