Faberge in America

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.