Product Description

In Stradivari’s Genius, Toby Faber charted the fascinating course of some of the world’s most prized musical instruments. Now, in this enthralling new book, he tells the story of objects that are, to many, the pinnacle of the jeweler’s art: the Fabergé imperial eggs.

The Easter presents that Russia’s last two czars gave to their czarinas have become synonymous with privilege, beauty, and an almost provocative uselessness. They are perhaps the most redolent symbols of the old empire’s phenomenal craftsmanship, of the decadence of its court, and of the upheavals that brought about its inevitable downfall. Fabergé’s Eggs is the first book to recount the remarkable story of these masterpieces, taking us from the circumstances that inspired each egg’s design, through their disappearance in the trauma of revolution, to their eventual reemergence in the global marketplace.

In 1885, Carl Fabergé created a seemingly plain white egg for Czar Alexander III to give to his beloved wife, Marie Fedorovna. It was the surprises hidden inside that made it special: a diamond miniature of the Imperial crown and a ruby pendant. This gift began a tradition that would last for more than three decades: lavishly extravagant eggs commemorating public events that, in retrospect, seem little more than staging posts on the march to revolution. Above all, the eggs illustrate the attitudes that would ultimately lead to the downfall of the Romanovs: their apparent indifference to the poverty that choked their country, their preference for style over substance, and, during the reign of Nicholas II, their all-consuming concern with the health of the czarevitch Alexis, the sickly heir to the throne–a preoccupation that would propel them toward Rasputin and the doom of the dynasty.

More than a superb new account of a classic tragedy, Fabergé’s Eggs illuminates some fascinating aspects of twentieth-century history. The eggs’ amazing journey from revolutionary Russia features a cast of characters including embattled Bolsheviks, acquisitive British royals, eccentric artifact salesmen, and such famous business and society figures as Arm and Hammer, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and Malcolm Forbes. Finally, Toby Faber tantalizingly suggests that some of the eggs long thought lost may eventually emerge.

Darting from the palaces of a besieged Russia to the showcases of New York’s modern mega-wealthy, Fabergé’s Eggs weaves a story unparalleled in its drama and extravagance.

Praise for Stradivari’s Genius

“Fascinating . . . lively . . . more enthralling, earthy and illuminating than any fiction could be.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“A celebration of six instruments and the master craftsman who made them . . . [Faber] brings to the subject an infectious fascination with Stradivari’s life and trade. . . . He writes with clarity and fluency.”
–Chicago Tribune

“An extraordinary accomplishment and a compelling read. Like strange totems that cast an irresistible spell, these instruments bring out the best and the worst of those who would own them, and Faber deftly tells the stories in all their rich and surprising detail.”
–Thad Carhart, author of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank

“A worthy contribution to the ongoing legend of Stradivari.”
–Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Fascinating, accessible, and enjoyable.”
–Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90400 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-07
• Released on: 2008-10-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781400065509
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

From Publishers Weekly
In 1885 Czar Alexander III presented his wife, Marie, with a spectacularly crafted Easter egg. Over the next three decades, its creator, Carl Fabergé, made 49 more such eggs filled with jeweled surprises and exquisitely detailed paintings for the czar's family. Faber (Stradivari's Genius), former managing director of his family's firm, Faber & Faber, describes the eggs in loving, mouthwatering detail, bolstering his claim that the French-born jeweler led the Russian aristocracy to appreciate fine jewelry design over sheer gem size. Fabergé's influence also spread westward. In England, Marie's sister, Queen Alexandra, also developed a passion for Fabergé. Many of the eggs wound up in the United States after the canny businessman Armand Hammer made a deal with the Soviets to buy nearly one-third of them. Eventual owners included Egypt's King Farouk and cereal heiress Marjorie Meriweather Post. Faber frustratingly devotes far more ink to Romanov history and the precious eggs' twisted paths after leaving Russia than he does to the man who designed them. But the details he does provide—such as Hammer's unscrupulous dealings—make for a tantalizing read. 16 pages of color photos. (Oct. 7)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Faber moves beyond mere description and illustration as he traces the fascinating history and sociology of these turn-of-the-century status symbols. Set against the sumptuous backdrop of Romanov Russia, the story of the creation of the original 50 imperial Fabergé eggs parallels the story of a nation in flux and an imperial family teetering—almost unwittingly—on the verge of extinction. As revolutionary fervor swept across Russia and the Romanov dynasty crashed and burned, these opulent, intricately designed eggs quickly became emblematic of a bygone era. To raise money, the Russian government began selling the gem-encrusted eggs in the mid-1920s, and they eventually became an international sensation. Art, history, business, and culture combine to play significant roles in the odyssey of the coveted Fabergé eggs from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. --Margaret Flanagan

About the Author
Born in Cambridge, England, in 1965, Toby Faber now lives in London with his wife and daughter. He was previously managing director of his family’s renowned publishing firm, Faber and Faber. He is also the author of Stradivari’s Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection.

Customer Reviews

Not Just Fancy Jewelry
There are many books (and even some websites) devoted to pictures of the jeweled eggs produced by Fabergé for the last two czars of Russia to give to their czarinas on Easter. _Fabergé's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces that Outlived an Empire_ (Random House) by Toby Faber is not like those. Sure, it has photos, but only of some of the fifty eggs that were so given. The point of Faber's fascinating book is not the sparkle of these splendid, somewhat preposterous baubles, but the history behind them. He has, in many cases, told the stories of individual eggs and positioned them within the history of the last years of the Russian Empire, and then followed them from after the revolution until the current day. This, then, is a history book with a wide scope, using the eggs as a mere foundation for bigger themes. It is full of remarkable stories from the royal family as well as from the colorful subsequent owners of the eggs, and Faber, who wrote about the violins of _Stradivari's Genius_ a few years ago, has told the stories in a lively way to interconnect a lot of historical strands.

When Czar Alexander III came to Fabergé before Easter in 1881, he wanted a present for his wife, the Empress Maria. The first egg of the series was the Hen Egg, based on the design of an egg in the Royal Danish Collection, and since Maria was from Denmark, it would have reminded her of her happy childhood there. The eggs became an annual tradition thereafter, and each year Fabergé had more freedom about how to execute the commission. When Alexander died only aged 49 in 1894, Fabergé might have worried that the new czar Nicholas II would not have the same taste or desires, but Nicholas proved to be unwilling to change anything much (a characteristic that Faber shows played a role in his doom), and continued the tradition, with Easter eggs going not just to Maria his mother but to Alexandra his new wife. The eggs often reflected historical landmarks or anniversaries. The Trans-Siberian Railway Egg of 1900 commemorating the newly completed railway. Fabergé knew that he could please Alexandra with depictions of her children; the famous Lilies of the Valley Egg of 1898 had a surprise of pop-out portraits of her husband and daughters. Faber demonstrates that the eggs could represent the alienation of the royals from the world around them. He contrasts these expensive and beautiful toys with the lot of the Russian people and increases our understanding of the revolution that brought the family down in 1918, and the eggs were available for sale abroad to benefit the new Soviet state. The most famous collector was Malcolm Forbes, who determined that he would buy up so many of the eggs he would have more than were left in the Kremlin vaults. He thought he had succeeded, too, with eleven eggs to the Kremlin's ten in 1985, but increased interest in the eggs (and a Forbes-inspired boom in their prices, which lasted after his death in 1990) meant that scholars went to work on tracking down exact listings of their history. Forbes's cache was entirely Fabergé eggs of the period, but only nine were actual gifts from a czar. In 2004, a Russian tycoon bought Forbes's eggs to go back into the Kremlin Armory Museum.

The eggs now get lent out for displays, and for Russians can symbolize a romanticized, glorious past that the Communists wanted them all to forget. It is a past which still takes hold of people's imaginations, although the past was actually inglorious. As Faber points out, though, there is a symmetry of the eggs ordered by the super-rich czar, now brought back to Russia by the czar's super-rich oligarch successors. This is a fine history that tells a great deal more about characters and events than it does about mere ostentatious and whimsical jewelry.

Interesting History of Specific Eggs
Fabergé's eggs have been a symbol of decadence and extravagance ever since their origin as a gift from Czar Alexander III to his wife, Maria Fedorovna, as an Easter present in 1885. What seemed to be a plain white egg hid a golden yolk that contained a golden hen, a diamond miniature of the Imperial crown, and a ruby pendant. That treasure, created by Carl Fabergé, began a tradition for more than thirty years of gifts from the Czars commemorating events and holidays. Faber has collected tales of many of the eggs, from when and why they were created, their disposition during the Russian Revolution, to their current return back to Russia at the hand of the oligarchs. There is not a great deal of history of Fabergé himself, but mostly the highly entertaining stories of the eggs, their journeys and the people driven to collect them. It is also the history of the 20th century Russia, from the revolution through the Cold War and into the new Russia, complete with billionaires competing through conspicuous consumption. The book includes sixteen pages of black and white and color photos of the eggs, their owners, Fabergé's workshop and more.

The Legendary Faberge
This was a great comprehensive look at Faberge's life, his work, and his relationship with the Russian Imperial Family. After Alexander III first began the tradition of giving a Faberge egg to his wife every Easter, Faberge's skill and attention to detail flourished each year. Upon Alexander's death, his son Nicholas II would continue the custom, commissioning elaborate eggs for both his mother and his wife. Faber's book details many of these imperial eggs, and traces their histories through the revolution, through the century, and around the world. This book also illustrates the decadence of pre-revolutionary czarist Russia. Faberge's workshops created the most ornate and sought-after jewelry and trinkets in the world until WWI and the communist uprising devastated any market for such frivolities. Regardless, Faberge's eggs were impressive creations, each unique and spectacular in their craftsmanship and originality.