Absolutely blown away by the skill and mastership found in the Russian Season: Royal Fabergé exhibition at the Sainsbury's center, Norwich, UK.
At the start of the exhibition you descend the spiral staircase and receive a small hint of the treasures found within. Cigarette cases, brooches and hard stone carved figurines glint and shine under the low light. You are only further stunned by the history behind these beautiful pieces, one brooch owned by the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova in which the desert is named after.
In the description of the cigarette case (pictured left) it quoted a letter in which a woman described how gifts of 'chocolates and flowers' were an indication of mere interest where gifts of 'lingerie, watches and Fabergé trinkets' were an indication of a far more loving and serious relationship.
The idea that these exquisite items were described as 'trinkets' made me laugh, these people obviously had more money than sense.
As you move further into the exhibition you start to see how political the Fabergé company was. The only other Fabergé store outside of Russia was in London, who customers included Danish princesses Alexandra and Dagmar (who married the future Edward VII and Tsar Alexander III in the 1860s) made it their life’s work to bring together their husbands’ competing empires in alliance against Germany before World War 1. They recognized it as a way to unite England and Russian together. The princesses became sensational celebrities of their time, often dressing up as identical twins to empathize the unity between their husbands and countries.
Within the exhibition we investigate the lives of Alexandra and Dagmar, who honeymooned and holidayed in the Norfolk countryside. Often pretending to be poor milkmaids as a form of entertainment.
This led to one of the biggest commissions for the London Fabergé store, to create a menagerie of hand carved hard stone animals found on the Norfolk estate and within the household.
Many different stones and subjects were used, from a large rose quartz pig with ruby eyes to a tiny white boulder opal stoat.
Hundreds of these animals were made, with dogs and pigs often being prominent with them being King Edwards favourites.
Each is carved with great precision, often using the natural change in colour of the hard stone to make the animal look more realistic.
(Fabergé hard stone Door mouse nibbling on yellow gold straw pictured left)
The pinnacle of the collections, given it's own private space within the exhibition, was the Fabergé Easter basket of flowers egg. Set high in a glass cabinet in the center of the room, you are able to walk round it and study it from every angle. Each flower, wild grass and stem of crop is carefully enameled and made in precious metal, while the handle and basket is delicately decorated with hundreds of white diamonds. Despite it's age the colours are still gloriously bright, the skill of the enamelists at the Fabergé company is very apparent with over 40 different colours being demonstrated on the Basket of flower egg alone.
The Russian Season exhibition has been the highlight of the start of the year for me and I'd really recommend visiting.
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