An exhibition of rare masterpieces by Carl Faberge opened at the Bower Museum Automatic translate

An exhibition of goldsmiths by the master and legendary jeweler Karl Faberge has opened at the Bowers Museum in California, the ingenious design and meticulous execution of which still amazes and delights millions of people around the world.

Diamond Tiara of Empress Catherine the Great, August Holmström (Faberge workshop), approx. 1890

The new exhibition is interesting in that it will feature some of the rarest and most impressive creations of the master. As director of the Bower Museum Peter Keller noted, the main focus of the exhibition is on objects that have been transformed by Faberge’s talent and work from everyday to extraordinary. For example, visitors can see numerous lighters, snuff boxes, photo frames, watches and hat pins, which have become real luxuries.

A feature of the exposition is also that for the first time the world’s largest Faberge collection, owned by Texas-based industrialist Arty McFerrin, is fully presented here. Previously, he provided some exhibits for various exhibitions, but never exhibited the entire collection.

Among the most unique exhibits presented today, one can note the diadem donated by Emperor Alexander I to Empress Josephine after her divorce from Napoleon Bonaparte in 1890, this is one of the few tiaras created by Faberge.

You can also see the unique “Ice” egg, commissioned by Emmanuel Nobel in 1914, and known for its brilliantly enameled surface, with an engraving that imitates the frost pattern on fogged glass. The egg seems quite simple, but this impression is misleading, because the frosted glass base is covered with alternating layers of transparent and opaque white enamel, each layer is individually painted and engraved. The result is an icy shine that flickers like a cold winter morning. Inside is a pendant watch, the dial of which is half hidden by snowflakes from rock crystal. It is also impossible not to note the wall clock, covered with blue enamel, which Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna jointly acquired in 1896, just a few weeks after the wedding. This watch symbolized true love in their home.

From a technical point of view, Faberge products are recognized as the standard of excellence of many experts: jewelers, stone cutters, goldsmiths, enamel specialists, miniaturists. The masters of the company became famous for the highest achievements in the technique of the so-called guilloche - a pattern of lines resembling rays or waves was applied to the golden or silver surface of the egg, and then enameled on the surface. As a result, the polished surface seemed to glow from the inside - a magical effect was created by the light-scattering engraved lines hidden under a layer of enamel.

You will be able to see these unique works of art in Bower until January 6, 2013.

Anna Sidorova