Master goldsmith Gustav Fabergé, a descendant of Huguenot emigrées, founded the House of Fabergé in St. Petersburg in 1842. While the firm is best known for creating the lavishly ornate and intricately devised Imperial Easter eggs given by the last czars to their families as annual holiday gifts, it was the most prestigious Russian luxury goods maker of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fabergé did a brisk trade among the lesser nobility and the merchant class, but it flourished under the guidance of Gustav’s eldest son Peter Carl Fabergé — known also as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé — who took over in 1872.
Serving the aristocracy and the well-to-do through stores in St. Petersburg, Moscow and as far afield as London, Fabergé crafted a wide range of brooches and other jewelry, clock cases, silver and myriad objets de vertu that included picture frames, cigarette cases, cufflinks and carved hardstone floral and animal figurines. Following the revolution, the firm was closed by the Soviet state in 1918.
Cosmopolitan, widely-traveled and himself a master goldsmith — he was sent on a Grand Tour in the 1860s — the younger Fabergé drew early design inspiration when he volunteered to catalogue and restore pieces in the imperial jewelry collection in the Hermitage.
Fabergé pieces based on historical jewelry from the Hermitage caught the attention of Czar Alexander III at a Moscow exhibition in 1882, and three years later he commissioned the first Imperial Easter egg as a gift for the czarina. Czar Nicholas II continued the tradition, presenting two eggs each Easter — one for his wife and one for his mother.
Relatively simple in design compared to the complex cloisonné-adorned eggs that followed, the first Fabergé egg was a white-enameled ovoid containing a gold “yolk” that held a gold hen, which in turn contained a replica of the imperial crown from which hung an egg-shaped ruby pendant.
As the appointed goldsmith to the royal court, the House of Fabergé became the darling of Russian aristocrats as well as wealthy patrons across Europe. Many and varied objets — hundreds of thousands by one count — were made to meet their demand. The firm employed some 500 craftsmen and designers when it was shuttered.
After the Russian Revolution, the Fabergé name and trademark endured a checkered passage through the 20th century.
Family members left their homeland in 1918 and set up a new business in Paris that was mainly concerned with repairing and restoring earlier-made wares. The name was adopted by an American fragrance and beauty products maker in the late 1930s, and later authorized by the family in a 1951 agreement. The trademark has been subsequently sold several times, and attached to numerous products including jewelry.
Fabergé pieces are richly redolent of a romantic past, and a source of thorough delight — for connoisseurs, true Fabergé refers to items made in the firm’s brief, golden decades from 1885 to 1917.
Collectors are advised to make a study of Fabergé works in museum collections such as the Victoria & Albert and the Royal Collection in London to gain an understanding of the quality of genuine goods made by the original firm, and then to purchase only from reputable and reliable dealers, such those at 1stDibs.
Find Peter Carl Fabergé objects and vintage jewelry on 1stDibs.
Imperial Period Faberge Bowenite and Silver-Gilt Inkwell
By Fabergé
Located in Brisbane City, QLD
An Imperial Period, silver-gilt, bowenite inkwell by Faberge featuring chased laurel leaves, acanthus swags, and a hinged cover with a ribbon-tied acanthus wreath finial. The inkwell...
Silver, Gilt Metal
William Comyns Victorian Repousse Sterling Silver and Crystal Inkwell 1895
By William Comyns
Located in San Mateo, CA
Large Victorian inkwell by William Comyns. This has a repousse sterling design over a heavy crystal inkwell. The hinged lid is monogrammed with a JP. The piece is dated 1895.
Crystal, Sterling Silver
Important Sterling and Gilt Inkwell by John & Joseph Angell, London, 1853
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
Important sterling and gilt inkwell by John & Joseph Angell London 1853, depicting a likeness of Shakespeare, Socrates and other scholars. The inkwell is in mint condition with no is...
Silver
$3,092Sale Price|25% Off
H 3.55 in W 3.94 in D 3.94 in
English Silver-Gilt and Agate Inkstand, circa 1830
Located in Paris, FR
Inkwell in agate set in a vermeil mount. The agate cut is closed by a finely chiseled lid of foliage patterns and whose grip is adorned with a head of putti. The handle, which is dec...
Agate, Silver
$596Sale Price|25% Off
H 4.34 in Dm 2.76 in
19th Century Small Inkwell in Porcelain and Silver-Gilt in Sevres Style
By Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
Located in Paris, FR
Small inkwell crafted in porcelain, the paunch and lid decorated with a frieze of polychromatic floral motives highlighted with gold. The lid topped by a pine cone finial features a ...
Silver
Antique Silver travelling Inkwell London 1839
Located in Toronto, ON
Antique Silver travelling Inkwell London 1839 prob Thomas Diller. Vermeuil Silver rectangular inkwell plain with moulded borders and a hinged screw-down cover surmounted by a folding...
Silver, Other
French Victorian Round Crystal and Silver Inkwell
Located in Queens, NY
French Victorian round crystal inkwell with silver and enamel cornucopia top (signed TIFFANY) *as is
Crystal
$1,800Sale Price|20% Off
H 4.75 in Dm 6 in
Tiffany & Co. Art Nouveau Sterling Silver and Engraved Glass Inkwell
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in New York, NY
Art Nouveau sterling silver and clear glass inkwell. Made by Tiffany & Co. in New York. Bellied and lobed clear glass base with short inset foot and carved and engraved stylized flow...
Sterling Silver
Antique Victorian Sterling Silver and Cranberry Glass Inkwell
By Joseph Angell II
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
An exceptional, fine and impressive, antique Victorian English sterling silver and red cranberry glass inkwell; an addition to our ornamental silverware collection This exceptional antique Victorian sterling silver inkwell has a circular shaped domed form. The body of this exceptional antique inkwell is embellished with impressive pierced and embossed scrolling leaf decoration, accented with pensile, baluster style bead motifs. The ornamentation to the body incorporates five oval cartouches; four are ornamented with an embossed male profile: two bearded males and two in a soldier's helmet. The cartouche to the anterior surface of the inkwell features the contemporary engraved crest of a stag encompassed with a garter and the motto 'God and my Honour'. The intricate sterling silver body of the inkwell incorporates five conical shaped pen receivers. The swept waisted upper portion of this antique inkwell is fitted with a hinged hallmarked cover, ornamented with engraved simplified leaf decoration. The cover is surmounted with an impressive embossed three-dimensional bust of a male figure in robes. This antique inkwell retains the original and substantial red cranberry glass ink bottle liner, with a cut glass star motif to the underside; the cranberry glass liner is highly desirable. This exceptional silver and glass inkwell is supported by five swept feet, ornamented with a continuation of scrolling leaf and circular motif decoration from the body. This exceptional example of Victorian silverware, crafted by the renowned London silversmith Joseph Angell II, is the finest example of its type Condition This antique ink bottle...
Sterling Silver
$600Sale Price|20% Off
H 2.5 in W 2.25 in D 2.25 in
Antique Repousse Sterling Inkwell by Jacobi & Jenkins
By Jacobi & Jenkins
Located in San Diego, CA
A rare antique hand-hammered repousse lid sterling silver inkwell by Jacobi & Jenkins of Baltimore, circa 1900. The inkwell has a removable domed sterling repousse lid in a floral pa...
Crystal, Sterling Silver
Faberge Antique Russian Tourmaline Enamel Diamond Gold Brooch
By Karl Fabergé
Located in Chicago, IL
Made in St. Petersburg in the 1890s The rare antique FABERGE button-shaped brooch is centered with a sparkling pink tourmaline that is elegantly complimented by a glossy white enamel background inlaid with channels of rose cut diamonds. Diameter 26 mm (1 in.) The cushion cut tourmaline measures 10.65 x 10.53 x 6.75 mm and is approximately 5.23 ct. Marked on the pin guard with 56 zolotnik Imperial gold standard (14K); on pin – with St. Petersburg assay mark and workmaster’s initials ‘AH’ for August...
Tourmaline
Exceptional Antique Louis XVI Gold Enamel Scent Perfume Bottle
Located in Chicago, IL
Circa 1780 This is one of the finest enameled gold scent bottles that has ever appeared on the market. This elaborate multi-color enamel and gold scent / perfume bottle was made ...
Gold, Enamel
FABERGE Antique Guilloche Enamel Gold Pencil Holder Pendant
By Karl Fabergé
Located in Chicago, IL
Made in Saint Petersburg between 1908 and 1917 This antique Faberge two-tone 14K gold pencil holder pendant features superb royal blue guilloche enamel of exceptional quality. The o...
Gold, Enamel
Art Nouveau Antique Russian Diamond Gold Locket
Located in Chicago, IL
Made in Moscow between 1908 and 1917 The 14K matte gold locket pendant features a bezel-set rose cut diamond placed within a chased Art Nouveau foliage frame accented with two old...
Art Nouveau Antique Russian Diamond Guilloche Enamel Gold Brooch
By Feodor Lorie
Located in Chicago, IL
This exquisite Tsarist era brooch / pin was made in Moscow between 1908 and 1917 by a prominent jewelry firm of Feodor Lorie. The brooch is handcrafted in 14K gold and silver. It fea...
Diamond
Antique Russian Pearl Diamond Art Nouveau Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This elegant Russian Imperial era antique pendant necklace was made between 1908 and 1917. The necklace is designed as a pair of diamond-set...
Diamond, Pearl, 14k Gold, Silver
