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Peter Carl Gustavovich Fabergé (; – 24 September 1920; also known as Charles Fabergé) was a Russian
goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...
and jeweller. He is best known for creating Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine
Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...
s, but using
precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...
s and
gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...
s rather than more mundane materials. He was one of the sons of Gustav Fabergé, the founder of the House of Fabergé.


Early life and education

Peter Carl Fabergé was born on in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, Russia, into the family of the
Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...
jeweller of
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
descent, Gustav Fabergé, and his wife Charlotte Jungstedt, the daughter of Danish painter Karl Jungstedt. Gustav Fabergé's paternal ancestors were Huguenots, originally from La Bouteille,
Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
, who fled from France after the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to pra ...
, first to Germany near
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, then in 1800 to the Pernau county (today
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), Livonia Governorate, then part of Russia, now in
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
. His father retired from his jewelry business in 1860 and moved with his family to
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, the capital of
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; he left the House of Fabergé in Saint Petersburg in the hands of his business partner, Hiskias Pendin. Carl enrolled at the Dresden ''Handelsschule'' (trade school), a place where the sons of Saxon merchants studied the basics of business administration. In 1862, Agathon Fabergé was born in Dresden, where he went to school as well. Carl was sent to England to learn English and he continued with his Grand Tour of
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. He received tuition from respected goldsmiths in Germany, France and England, attended a course at Schloss's Commercial College in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, and viewed the objects in the galleries of Europe's leading museums. He was also apprenticed by the jeweler Josef Friedman of
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, whose jewels were highly regarded in the German principalities. Fabergé returned to Saint Petersburg in 1864 and entered his father's firm. Although he was only 18 years of age, he continued his education and was tutored by Hiskias Pendin. He also developed friendships with members of the directorate of the
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
and began unpaid work there in 1867.


Career


Head of the family business

On , he married Augusta Julia Jacobs, daughter of the furniture craftsman Gotlieb Jacobs. He also took over his father's firm the same year. His first child, Eugène Fabergé, was born in 1874, and two years later, Agathon Fabergé was born;
Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...
and Nicholas Fabergé followed in 1877 and 1884 respectively. The company was also involved with cataloguing, repairing, and restoring objects in the Hermitage during the 1870s. In 1881, the business moved to larger street-level premises at Bolshaya Morskaya. Fabergé also began making changes to transform the firm from what his son Eugène called "a dealer in petty jewelry and spectacles". His time in Europe had inspired him to make pieces that were more than a sum of their parts. As he later described in his own words: "Expensive things interest me little if the value is merely in so many diamonds or pearls". By 1881, Carl earned enough recognition among his peers to be appointed "master of the Second Guild", which marked him as a merchant or retailer rather than a craftsman. This also meant he did not have to submit his pieces for official testing when using his own hallmark to that of the firm. Upon the death of Hiskias Pendin, Carl Fabergé took sole responsibility for running the company and was formally acknowledged as the head of the firm. At this time, the firm employed about 20 people. The firm's first major breakthrough was in 1882, when Carl and Agathon Fabergé were a sensation at the Pan-Russian Exhibition of Industry and the Arts held in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. Carl was awarded a gold medal. Due to his work at the Hermitage, which included Greek and Scythian jewelry from the 4th-century that he helped to restore, Fabergé had been invited to the exhibition; Fabergé had also received permission to copy and incorporate the designs of those articles, and this became the focus of his display. The magazine ''
Niva Niva or NIVA can refer to: Places * Niva (river) in the Murmansk Oblast, Russia * Nivå, a town in Denmark * Nivå station, railway station in Denmark * Niva (Prostějov District), a village in the Czech Republic * Niva, Iran, a village in Kurdista ...
'' wrote in an article: "Mr Fabergé opens a new era in the art of jewellery... Her Majesty honoured Fabergé by buying a pair of cufflinks with images of cicadas which, according to Ancient Greek belief, bring luck". Although he achieved recognition of the imperial family, Fabergé was only one of many jewellers supplying the Russian court; at least five firms are mentioned in the Imperial accounts for 1883, with only 6,400 rubles paid to Fabergé, which was by far the smallest. Fabergé's production of the very first so-called Fabergé egg, the Hen Egg, given as a gift from Emperor Alexander III to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, on Orthodox Easter on 24 March 1885, so delighted her that on 1 May, the emperor patronized the firm and awarded it with the title of Supplier to the Imperial Court. This meant that Fabergé now had full personal access to the important Hermitage Collection, where he was able to study and find inspiration for developing his unique personal style. Influenced by the jewelled bouquets created by the eighteenth century goldsmiths Jean-Jacques Duval and Jérémie Pauzié, Fabergé re-worked their ideas combining them with his accurate observations and his fascination for Japanese art. This resulted in a revival of the lost art of enameling and a focus on the setting of every single gemstone in a piece to its best visual advantage. Indeed, it was not unusual for Agathon to make ten or more wax models so that all possibilities could be exhausted before deciding on a final design. Shortly after Agathon joined the firm, the House introduced ''objects deluxe'': gold bejewelled items embellished with enamel ranging from electric bell pushes to cigarette cases and including ''objects de fantaisie''.


Easter eggs

In light of the empress' response to receiving one of Fabergé's eggs on Easter, the emperor soon commissioned the company to make an Easter egg as a gift for her every year thereafter. The emperor placed an order for another egg the following year. Beginning in 1887, the emperor apparently gave Carl Fabergé complete freedom with regard to egg designs, which then became more and more elaborate. According to Fabergé Family tradition, not even the emperor knew what form they would take— the only stipulation was that each one should be unique and each should contain a surprise. Alexander III collaborated with Fabergé on some of the designs to some extent. Upon the 1894 death of Alexander III, his son, the next emperor, Nicholas II, followed this tradition and expanded it by requesting that there be two eggs each year, one for his mother (who was eventually given a total of 30 such eggs) and one for his wife,
Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...
(who received another 20). These series of Easter gift eggs are today distinguished from the other jeweled eggs Fabergé ended up producing by their designation as Imperial Easter Eggs. The tradition continued until the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
when the entire Romanov dynasty was executed and the eggs and many other treasures were confiscated by the interim government. The two final eggs were never delivered nor paid for. Although today the House of Fabergé is famed for the Imperial Easter Eggs, it made many more objects ranging from silver tableware to fine jewelry which were also of exceptional quality and beauty, and until its departure from Russia during the revolution, Fabergé's company became the largest jewelry business in the country. The Saint Petersburg branch was made up of several workshops with the responsibility of overseeing each item from its design through all the manufacturing stages. The Moscow branch was run as a commercial center. Other branches were also established in
Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
(1890),
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(1903) and
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(1905). A total of about 500 people worked for the firm. It produced at least 150,000 items of jewelry, silver and other items of fantasy, or up to an estimated 200,000 items from 1882 to 1917. Fabergé's work represented Russia at the 1900 World's Fair in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. As Carl Fabergé was a member of the jury, the House of Fabergé exhibited ''hors concours'' (without competing). Nevertheless, the House was awarded a gold medal and the city's jewelers recognized Carl Fabergé as a maître. Additionally, France recognized Carl Fabergé with one of the most prestigious of French awards, appointing him a knight of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. Two of Carl's sons and his head workmaster were also honored. Commercially, the exposition was a great success and the firm acquired a great many orders and clients.


End of the House of Fabergé

Following the outbreak of war in 1914, the firm submitted proposals for wartime production and received a response the following year, following which production began on military orders, which continued until the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
in 1917. In 1916, the House of Fabergé became a
joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...
under the name C. Fabergé, with a fixed capital of three million rubles. As a result of the revolution, the business was run by a Committee of Employees, which managed the firm until 1918, when the workshops were closed by Fabergé, who then left the country after officials of the new government asked him to close the business. Fabergé reportedly asked for ten minutes to collect his belongings before leaving. The great majority of jewels were destroyed following the revolution. Fabergé died at the Hotel Bellevue in
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, Switzerland, on 24 September 1920. He had escaped Russia in September 1918 under disguise as a courier with the British legation. His family believed he died of a broken heart. His wife, Augusta, died in 1925. The two were reunited in 1929 when Eugène Fabergé took his father's remains from Lausanne and buried them in his mother's grave at the Cimetière du Grand Jas in
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, France.


Personal life

Henry Bainbridge, a manager of the London branch of the House of Fabergé, recorded recollections of his meetings with his employer in his autobiography, as well as the book he wrote about Fabergé. The autobiography also records the memories of François Birbaum, Fabergé's senior master craftsman from 1893 until the House's demise.''The History of the House of Fabergé according to the recollections of the senior master craftsman of the firm Franz P. Birbaum'' This was handwritten in 1919 at the request (or order) of the Soviet authorities. It added considerably to the knowledge of how the House of Fabergé operated. The English translation was published by Tatiana F Fabergé (great-granddaughter of Peter Carl Fabergé) and Valentin V. Skurlov in St. Petersburg in 1992.


Family

Fabergé had five sons with Augusta Julia Jacobs, whom he married in 1872. Four of his sons lived to adulthood: Eugène (Evgeny) (1874–1960),
Agathon Agathon (; ; ) was an Athenian tragic poet whose works have been lost. He is best known for his appearance in Plato's '' Symposium,'' which describes the banquet given to celebrate his obtaining a prize for his first tragedy at the Lenaia in 4 ...
(1876–1951),
Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...
(1877–1952), and Nicholas (Nikolai) Leopold (1884–1939). Another son, Nikolai (1881–1883), died during infancy.


Legacy

Bainbridge says that when Fabergé took over the firm in 1872, there was "no special significance attached it", although it was a sound business, but over time, he raised its art to a much higher level, with the foundation of the firm consisting of lightness and elegance in design as Fabergé began creating objects of fantasy in addition to jewelry.


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * Fabergé, Tatiana; Proler, Lynekmkmtte G.; Skurlov, Valentin V. (1997). ''The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs''. London. Christie's. . * Fabergé; Skurlov (1992). ''The History of the House of Fabergé according to the recollections of the senior master craftsman of the firm, Franz P. Birbaum''. St Petersburg * Bainbridge, Henry Charles (1979). ''Peter Carl Fabergé – Goldsmith and Jeweller to the Russian Imperial Court – His Life and Work''. London. Batsfords – later reprints available such as New York, Crescent Books * Snowman, Kenneth (1964). ''The Art of Carl Fabergé''. London. Faber & Faber. . * von Habsburg, Geza (1987). ''Fabergé''. Geneva. Habsburg. Feldman Editions. . * von Solodkoff, Alexander (1984). ''Masterpieces from the House of Fabergé''. New York. Harry N Abrams. . * von Habsburg, Géza (2004). ''Fabergé Treasures of Imperial Russia''. Link of Times Foundation. . * Faber, Toby (2008). ''Faberge's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire''. New York. Random House. . * Hill, Gerald (2007). ''Faberge and the Russian Master Goldsmiths''. New York. Universe. . * Snowman, Kenneth (1988). ''Carl Fabergé: Goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia''. Random House. . *


External links


Fabergé Research Site. One of the most comprehensive websites about the firm



Empire of Eggs, Svetlana Graudt, ''Moscow Times'', November 18, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faberge, Peter Carl 1846 births 1920 deaths Burials at the Cimetière du Grand Jas Peter Carl Faberge Businesspeople from Saint Petersburg People who emigrated to escape Bolshevism Artists from the Russian Empire 19th-century businesspeople from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian businesspeople Goldsmiths from the Russian Empire Inventors from the Russian Empire Russian people of Danish descent Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Russian emigrants to Switzerland Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany Russian people of German descent Russian people of Baltic German descent