Thursday, February 4, 2016

Precious Flowers

      Today I want to tell you about the famous citizen of St. Petersburg. 
His name was Carl Faberge, he was the great expert in minerals, a recognized authority in this area, he also was the appraiser of gems at the Imperial court in Russia. Most often Easter eggs are associated with the name of Faberge, but the other side there was the manufacture of precious flowers in tiny vases which brought international fame to Faberge's production.  
Gravers skillfully treated pieces of rock crystal, creating the impression that the vase is filled with water.
All Faberge's precious flowers perfectly combine the artist’s imagination, the skill of a virtuoso enameler, painstaking work of a jeweler and stone-cutters, using amazing beauty of the gems of Siberia, the Urals and the Caucasus.




'Sculpture vase with flowers',  'Rose rugosa',  
'Snowdrop' and 'Snowdrops in a vase'
Gold, rock crystal, casting, carving, engraving, polishing. 1880

Rock crystal and chalcedony, carnelian and agate, aquamarine and opal, jasper, obsidian, jade, rhodonite stones and other were selected by artists with great taste. In addition, they could change the natural color of the mineral to give them the right shades and tones.

'Vase with flowers' and 'Blue bells'

                                                
      'Flower Lily', 'Daffodil', 'Dandelion'

 
Unique 'Flower Lily’, 1900, made of gold, jade, rock crystal, pearls. Among the owners of this fine work were the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, and the wife of Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra.
Fine flower ‘Dandelion’ is a symbol of impermanence of life, made from gold, rock crystal, diamond, casting, carving, engraving, polishing, enamel. 1880

Here is a house in Great Morskaya Street, St. Petersburg where Peter Carl Faberge and his family lived and the jewelry store and workshops were located.

The portrait of Peter Carl Faberge
May 30, 1846, Saint Petersburg - September 24, 1920, Lausanne, Switzerland 




  'Lily of valley in a basket', 'Forget-me-not', 'Lily of valley'. 
Gold, pearls, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, casting, carving, engraving, polishing. 1880



According to the property inventory of the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna's  palace, 33 flowers were in her collection: cornflowers, forget-me-not, cacti and a dandelion made of gold and diamonds on a gold stalk with jade leaves in a vase of rock crystal.
That's the story of Carl Faberge, one of the most famous Saint Petersburg citizen. I hope you loved his beautiful flowers of gems.  
Have you before known about Carl Faberge? 
Have you seen any things of his production somewhere?

P.S. Click on photo to enlarge it.


More about Faberge here



49 comments:

  1. Really wonderful photos, and thoughts indeed.

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  2. Hello dear Nadezda!
    Great post!Yes,i know about Faberge eggs and i like them so much!
    Have a lovely day!
    Dimi...

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    1. Glad you know about him, Dimi.
      Have a nice week!

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  3. Incredibly beautiful flowers. Just look correct.

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  4. I like the simple ones best, the rose and the snowdrop but I do like the basket of lily of the valley too. A very talented man

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  5. Faberge had an amazing talent, that's for sure!

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  6. He is a well known artist. I only knew his name from the eggs. Hope to see these flowers in a museum somewhere. Groetjes Hetty

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    1. There is the Museum of Faberge in Saint Petersburg, Hetty.

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  7. These are incredibly beautiful objects! Thank you so much for sharing them. I knew the Faberge name from his famous eggs but have only seen them in pictures and had not known about these lovely flowers. What a talented man!

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  8. Oh Nadezda!
    These are priceless masterpieces. These flowers are beautiful.
    Thank you very much, that I can watch them.
    Greetings.

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  9. Thank you, dear Nadezda, for this amazing post! I had seen photos of Fabergé eggs, but I never knew also "flower arrangements" were made. Oh, they are so very beautiful!
    Thank you for sharing and have a lovely weekend!

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    1. I'm glad you liked these flowers of gems, Sara!

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  10. They are so beautiful! So stunning! I really like them

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  11. Oh yes, I have heard of Carl Faberge! What an amazing artist!
    Thank you very much for expanding my knowledge and showing these exquisite photos of his work. So many different gemstones used.
    I did not know that he was a citizen of St. Petersburg.
    A wonderful post!

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    1. Betty, he was born in Saint Petersburg, studied and grew up here. He worked with his 3 sons and their workshops were located here and in Urals.
      I'm glad you enjoyed his flowers.

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    2. I first missed your link at the end of your post. Great to look through photos. and read more of his life and work. I have just touched on it and will read more later.
      Sometimes I have seen some of his pieces come up on the English programme "Antiques Road Show" Amazing work!
      Thank you for sharing.

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    3. I've posted this link thinking if someone is more interested in his works.

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  12. I have never seen these before so thank you for sharing such gorgeous works of art. :-)

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  13. I also knew about Faberge eggs, but never heard or seen his amazing flowers. Thank You for sharing! Some day when I manage visit St. Petersburg again (was there when it was called Leningrad), I sure visit this museum also.

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    1. Welcome to visit this interesting museum,Köögikata!

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  14. I have heard of Faberge. Such beauty! Is his name Russian?

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    1. No, it isn't Jason. As wiki says:He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to the Baltic German jeweller Gustav Fabergé and his Danish wife.

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  15. These flowers are so beautiful Nadezda, I should not know which one is most beautiful, I really love Fabergé's art. When I ever come to St.Petersburg I have to see this museum. I knew already about Fabergé, a long time ago when my youngest daughter was studying in Zürich, Switzerland, I was in Zürich and saw some famous Fabergé eggs in a very expensive shop. And.... I almost dare not to say but I have Fabergé designer glasses to look through, I bought it two years ago at our village optician, not for the name or the design but the glasses stood me well and that was it.
    Thank you for your story Nadazda, have a nice Sunday!

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    1. You're welcome and I can imagine, sure your glasses are very nice, Janneke.

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  16. Wooowwww....Si conocía los huevos de Fabergé. Esta colección que nos muestras es una maravilla Nadezda, son auténticas joyas. Me gustaría tener una ;)
    Buen fin de semana.
    Besos.

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    1. A mi tambien, Laura...pero es bastante cara ;0)

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  17. They are lovely
    http://shilpachandrasekheran.blogspot.in/?m=1

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  18. Belíssimas flores, grande artista e escultor!!!

    Bom fim de semana!
    Beijinhos.
    ❤ه° ·.

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  19. I knew all about Faberge eggs but I had no idea that he also made such exquisite objects as these.

    They are quite miraculous. Are they now in a museum?

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    1. The Most part of Faberge art collection is in the Royal Collection Trust, UK. The rest of his works is in the Saint Petersburg Faberge museum and in private collections.

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  20. I knew Carl Faberge made eggs, but I didn't know about the flowers. Goodness they are exquisite! Such detailed work is amazing!

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  21. Love the eggs he made but have really looked at his jewelled flowers before, they are so beautiful.

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  22. Oh my, these are absolutely beautiful! All I really knew of Faberge before were his Easter eggs. Thanks for sharing these gorgeous works of art, Nadezda.

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  23. When I think of Faberge I think of eggs and perfection. Now I will also think of St. Petersburg. The BBC have been showing (War and Peace) just finished on Sunday, full of grandeur, makes me brave enough to consider reading the book. (Just added you to my list of blogs)

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    1. I've seen 6th episode of War and Peace today too Alistair. I think it's talented movie and St. Petersburg is shown well, it's a city of Faberge.

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