Topic: Faberge
Imperial Peter the Great Easter Egg (1903). Photo © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts will host Fabergé: The Rise and Fall featuring more than 200 precious objects from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, home of the largest collection of Fabergé in the United States. The show traces Karl Fabergé’s rise to fame, highlighting his business savvy, artistic innovations, and privileged relationship with the Russian aristocracy. Despite the firm’s abrupt end in 1918, the legacy and name of Fabergé continues to hold a place in popular culture.
Visitors will have the rare opportunity to glimpse imperial Russian treasures made by the House of Fabergé, including jewel-encrusted parasol and cane handles, an array of enameled frames, animals carved from semi-precious stones, and miniature egg pendants. The exhibition features six exquisite imperial Easter eggs. These one-of-a-kind objects, which took at least a year to create, have become synonymous with the name Fabergé. One stunning example is the Imperial Tsesarevich Egg, made of lapis lazuli, diamonds, and gold and opens to reveal a miniature portrait of young Alexei, the heir of Tsar Nicholas II. The objects on view will be exhibited with text, images, and activities meant to help visitors imagine the ways in which such luxury items would have been manufactured in a workshop, displayed in a storefront, and used to adorn the interior of the imperial palace.
© Detroit Institute of Arts. 13 September, 2012
Updated: Sunday, 16 September 2012 6:51 AM EDT
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