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PRIVATE ORDERS

Regimental Desk Clock presented by the officers of the Imperial Horse Guards to Grand Duke Pavel Aleksandrovich, marked Fabergé in Cyrillic with Imperial warrant for Moscow; 88 silver standard; crossed anchors for St. Petersburg; IP for Julius Rappa… — Regimental Desk Clock presented by the officers of the Imperial Horse Guards to Grand Duke Pavel Aleksandrovich, marked Fabergé in Cyrillic with Imperial warrant for Moscow; 88 silver standard; crossed anchors for St. Petersburg; IP for Julius Rappaport. Catalog number: 12.153, Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973. Photo: Hillwood Museum & Gardens,

Substantial orders were executed for the Guards Regiments, in the form of presents to Officers’Assemblies from patrons and commanders on occasion of jubilees or of presents given by Officers’ Assemblies to commanders and officers upon their retirement. The articles concerned were bratina (loving cups), charka(goblets), vases, clocks, candlesticks, sculptured groups and sometimes icons. The clients nearly always insisted that the regiments’ attributes should play a predominant part in the composition and demanded that they should be executed in detail. This imposed severe constraints on the designers and often marred the artistic value of the articles — explaining why many of the orders are so absurd, for instance, bratinain the form of kettle-drums or upended helmets and shakos. When the placing of orders was entrusted to an officer with some taste and artistic knowledge, a common language could be found and unduly inappropriate attributes could be avoided or relegated to the background.

But when the orders were placed by the senior staff or went through the Officers’ Assembly, where every officer could voice his own opinion, then the artistic aspect inevitably suffered from their interference.

When the topics related to episodes from the history of an individual regiment or to ancient weapons or uniforms, the compositions were not lacking in artistic interest.

Such were the two bas-reliefs made for the Moscow Regiment, the first depicting an episode from the war of 1812, and the second a battle of the Turkish campaign.

The sketches were drawn by Samokish, the modelling was executed by the sculptor Strich, and I was responsible for the sketches of the frames and light-brackets.

Similar Fabergé works are to be found in nearly all the Officers’ Assemblies of the Petrograd Regiments. A series of light-brackets and candlesticks in the Empire style with figures of Uhlans both in the original and the contemporary uniforms was manufactured for the Uhlan Regiment.

Orders by civil institutions and departments were placed in much the same way, the sole difference being that military attributes were replaced by civilian ones.

During the last decade, our clientele from the worlds of finance and commerce — stock exchange, sugar, oil and other magnates — acquired great significance. I must say that it was incomparably easier and more pleasant to work with them: nearly all of them were gifted with practical good sense, had no pretensions to artistic initiative and did not impose their ideas and designs.

They rightly assumed that a designer was a specialist on the same level as an engineer or a book-keeper, and that any directive could only be harmful when ordering a present, they very often did not even define any kind of article, but only specified its maximum price, the intended recipient and the occasion of the presentation. In these circumstances, the artist could work without any limitations on his creativity. That is very important and he could feel that he bore full responsibility for his creations. That is no less important.

Some of these clients placed orders for complete sets of table silver, from surtouts de table to small objects and cutlery (spoons, forks, etc.) in the style of the dining room itself. Some examples are: the table silverware made for V.K. Kelkh (née Bazanova) and a nephrite writing-table set in the Empire style made for Eliseev.

One of the oil magnates (E. Nobel) was famous for his lavish gifts — indeed, giving them sometimes seemed to be his sole occupation and pleasure. Several of his orders were always in the process of execution in our workshops and he came to look at them from time to time. Very often a present found its destination only after it was finished, and when the workshops were closed, some of his orders remained incomplete.

The Fabergé “Fire Worshippers” clock made for Branobel in celebration of extracting of 1 billion pud of crude oil. Fabergé, St Petersburg 1908-1917 with Silver mountings by Karl Gustaf Hjalmar Armfelt, with Faberge and 88 zolotniki with marks for Mo… — The Fabergé “Fire Worshippers” clock made for Branobel in celebration of extracting of 1 billion pud of crude oil. Fabergé, St Petersburg 1908-1917 with Silver mountings by Karl Gustaf Hjalmar Armfelt, with Faberge and 88 zolotniki with marks for Moscow, Photo: Bukowskis Auktioner, sold June 1, 2006.

Among the most noteworthy of his numerous orders is a large mantelpiece clock in a stone reproduction of a temple of fire-worshippers. Flames in the corner towers were represented by hollow pieces of rhodonite illuminated from inside with small electric bulbs. The temple was placed on a rock, at the foot of which stood two high-relief allegorical figures of Trade and Industry. The clock was made after a drawing by the artist E. Jacobson.

Finally, a large vase in rhodonite supported by two figures of stolniki(the Tsar’s butlers) in costumes of the period of Alexei Mikhailovich, and a round table in nephrite with silver caryatids in the Empirestyle were executed after my sketches.

E. Nobel was a great admirer of the goldsmith’s art and had a special predilection for enamels: some of his orders were for huge articles in painted enamels on gold.

One of the rock crystal and diamond-set Nobel Ice Pendants.

A series of small pieces of jewellery in rock crystal with frost-like patterns in tiny brilliants was also interesting.

We cannot pass by the most profitable clientele which, as anybody can guess, was the demi-monde, from ballet dancers to gypsies and down, and with special accent on jewellery.

Women have always been, and will always be, the chief consumers of jewellery: how many fortunes and estates they have converted into pearls and diamonds!

In established households, family jewels pass from one generation to another, and many people even avoid remodeling them, but the contrary may be observed in the modern world which lives only for the present day, with no roots in the past, and with no future: with some rare exceptions, gifts are not connected with cherished memories (the contrary may indeed be true), and after a while gems are removed from their settings and are mounted in new, larger and fashionable articles, so that one piece of jewelry may contain both a pearl given by an ardent admirer and diamonds presented by an old protector. Just as dim memories of various once dear persons are blended together in these women’s souls, so are their images in the brilliance of their ornamental gemstones. The stage world also teems with interesting personalities, such as the singer F..., who used to visit the shop before his benefit performances to choose presents for himself, telling the salesmen to foist them on his admirers the following day. To give him his due, he bargained furiously, thus protecting the admirers’ interests.

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C. Faberge was famous for his wit and was quite merciless to fops, whom he hated.

On one occasion, soon after the New Year celebrations, he was visited by Prince G..., who fell into that category and took great pride in his stars and ribbons. The Prince started talking about the New Year's awards, in order to boast that he had been awarded the order of the White Eagle, and added carelessly, «Imagine, I even have no idea what for.» He expected Faberge to shower him with congratulations and praise for his merits, but the jeweler only smiled and replied, «Indeed, your Highness, I too have no idea what for».

For the sake of a witticism, he would not spare himself or like- minded people. The sugar magnate K... once complained, «Year after year, I only incur losses.» «Yes, yes», was the answer, «year after year we incur losses, but it is strange how the losses add to our wealth!» During the year of the Tsarevich's birth, while we were discussing the plans for the annual Easter egg, in order to connect the theme with the occasion, somebody pointed out that since the Heir became patron of the Rifle Regiments from the day of his birth, that fact could be involved in the composition. «Yes», Faberge agreed, «but we'll have to represent his soiled swaddling clothes,since for the time being they are the only results of his rifle practices».

When Faberge took orders personally, he was usually in a hurry and would soon forget the details. He would then interrogate all his staff, looking for the person who had been nearest to him when he had talked to the client, and would wonder how it was possible that a person who, had been so near could remember nothing. That was the reason for a saying among the staff: «The responsible one is the bystander, not the one who takes the order».

Sometimes his haste had curious consequences. Instead of detailed drawings, he occasionally submitted to workshops rough sketches for execution in which half of a symmetric object was drawn in one style and the other half in another, to allow for a choice between two variants: in several cases, objects were made according to the sketch through an oversight on the part of the master.

Once, when the prayer “Отче наш [Our Father]” had to be engraved on the back of an icon, he carefully inscribed the lettering of the first two words, followed by “…and so forth,” instead of the full text of the prayer. The engraver meticulously carved the words “Our Father… and so forth.” “Well, well”, remarked Carl Faberge, “if only our priests had hit upon the idea to make their services shorter”.

In view of the enormous number of articles manufactured, it was difficult to determine the artist who had executed an object simply by looking at it, without reference to a drawing.

When Faberge happened to notice an unsuccessful article, he would send for me and make derisive and ironical remarks about the unknown author to his heart’s content; in cases where I had reason to suspect that the author was none other than himself, I would send for the sketch and show it to him. Then he would smile guiltily and say, «Since there is nobody to scold me, I have to do it myself».

In the times of Gustav Faberge, a member of the Imperial Family who was greatly interested in the jeweler’s craft wanted to learn it applied to Faberge with a request for a list of all the necessary tools and equipment. The old master craftsman to whom the task was entrusted was very eccentric andincluded “a flat strap of sufficient thickness” in the list of tools, among the mallets, burins and chisels.

The client noticed that item, but could not understand how a strap could be used in jewelry work. The old man replied to his question, “Your Highness, it is the first and most indispensable instrument, no apprentice has ever been taught the jewelry art without it” — a brief and truthful illustration of the educational system of the time.

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna patronized foreign jewelers more than any other member of the Imperial Family. They made use of her omnipotent protection and traded both here and in Moscow without paying customs duties and assay taxes. This fraud was revealed and proved by some of the Petrograd jewelers, who managed to have the pieces of jewelry concerned sequestered until the legal duties were paid.

FOREIGN TRADE

The beginning of properly organized trade dates back to 1900, the time of the World Exhibition in Paris. Before then, many of our articles were sent abroad occasionally, as presents or as purchases made in Russia or through middlemen.

These objects include an ornamental vase presented to Prince Bismarck, a large silver bratina given to Negus Menelik of Abyssinia and many other gifts from the Russian Emperors to foreign Courts and diplomats.

The success of our jewellery articles at the Paris Exhibition gave reason to hope for sales on a larger scale, and since the targeted clientele was mainly in London, it was decided to establish a branch there.

The chief clients were King Edward (VII) and the court aristocracy. The steady increase of the circle of purchasers of our articles could not escape the notice of English jewelers and goldsmiths, who hastened to take steps to protect their interests. It should be noted that although there were no import duties on these goods in England, the gold hallmarking regulations allowed for a wide range of interpretations. And the observance of these regulations was zealously controlled by the (Worshipful) Company of Goldsmiths. At first the English assay offices contented themselves with checking the Russian hallmarks by subjecting the articles to new analyses. This naturally imposed no constraint on us, particularly since we deliberately kept our assays slightly higher than those required by law. But later, under pressure from the Company, they began insisting on the stamping of English hallmarks, and these requirements threatened our trade with such serious complications that the firm, after consulting with English jurists, brought the case to Court. It must be noted that the seemingly harmless requirement of stamping English hallmarks meant that every article we wanted to sell in England had to travel there and back twice; a hallmark must be stamped on a semi-finished article, because the blow of the stamp inevitably distorts the object and necessitates corrections.

Moreover, in the case of enamel work, which predominated in our output, the stamping blow always caused the enamel to spring away from the metal. Accordingly, every article had to be sent to England in a semi-finished form, then returned to Russia for completion and finally exported again for sale. But that was not all, since it could not be foreseen exactly what articles would be sold in London; all our works had to be hallmarked in England in order to ensure a sufficient choice of goods.

The lawsuit dragged on for more than a year, and as might have been expected, the outcome was not in our favour.

The requirements of English hallmarking regulations remained in force, and although the firm attempted to proceed with its activities in London even under those conditions, it soon became evident that this could only lead to losses. The European war put an end to the affair and hastened the closure of the London branch.

The London shop sold not only to an English clientèle, but served as a center of our trade with France, America and the Far East. Representatives of the London branch travelled to these countries, delivering goods and receiving orders which were transmitted to Saint Petersburg. The especially wide success of gold and enameled articles and also large-scale silverware may be explained by the technical perfection of our handwork.

For a long time now, foreign manufacturers have replaced hand work by machining in all suitable and unsuitable cases, at the obvious expense of durability and careful workmanship. Foreign connoisseurs could not but notice the qualities distinguishing our handwork, in which even the most discerning eye cannot observe any of the shortcomings and faults so frequently found in machine processes.

A curious situation now arose: while Russia was being flooded with cheap foreign jewelry and silverware, we were exporting more expensive but more modern goods.

We could have achieved the same success with our jewelry, had we been able to obtain precious stones from original sources and in sufficient quantities, like French and English jewelers.

Yet we should have needed more capital and have to make changes in the business organization, following the market situation and fashion more attentively.

Articles intended for England had a rather individual artistic aspect, characterized by simplicity of form, restraint in ornamentation and special care for technical perfection of construction.

A sepia en camaieu enamel portrait of Prince Chulalongkorn in a diamond and sapphire frame in the Siamese taste by Fabergé — A sepia *en camaieu* enamel portrait of Prince Chulalongkorn in a diamond and sapphire frame in the Siamese taste by Fabergé

Twice a year a representative of the firm's London branch travelled to the Far East, mainly to India and Siam. The Siamese Royal Family and court were the most important clientele of the region. Our works were first brought to Siam by Prince Chulalongkorn (in fact: Chakrabong),who had spent a long time in Saint Petersburg attending the Corps des Pages:soon after his return home, the firm received various orders from the royal couple, with special emphasis on items of carved nephrite and miniature enameled portraits of the King and Queen surrounded by brilliants.

Having learned from visitors to Siam that rings set with gemstones were the most popular kind of jewelry, we sent a large selection of rings there on our very first journey. Unfortunately nobody had considered the possibility that European ring sizes might be unsuitable, and indeed they proved to be so much too large that next time we had to manufacture rings in children's sizes for the slender fingers of Siamese ladies.

Siam has a tradition of exchanging New Year gifts, similar to our Easter eggs, every year is called by the name of some animal. In 1913 the Siamese Court ordered a whole series of objects and trinkets in the form of pigs.

Of the articles manufactured for Siam, many are European in character, but quite a few are in the Siamese style, for which we used patterns, drawings and photographs obtained from that country. This style bears traces of Indian and Chinese influences, but is distinctively interesting, although hitherto very little studied. It is characterized by extremely rich ornamentation, perfection of detail and the influence of Chinese color schemes is very marked.

Before 1908 gemstone carving played a secondary part in the firm's production. Articles made of Siberian and other semi-precious stones served as frames or backgrounds for gold and silver open-work.

They were also used for small articles, such as snuffboxes, walking- stick handles, seals and frames, and sometimes for larger articles, such as ornamental vases, clocks, inkstands and lamps.

Nearly all the gemstone works of this period were manufactured on the basis of the firm's sketches and models at Woerffel's workshop in Saint Petersburg and at the Stern factory in Oberstein (Germany).

Some carved objects were obtained from Ekaterinburg craftsmen and were then transported to the above-mentioned enterprises for finishing and repolishing (it is interesting to note that the cost of the improvements was often higher than the original price of a piece).

Masters of the Peterhof gem-carving factory also produced articles made at home in their spare time. This increasing use of gemstones in gold and silver articles, artistic shortcomings and execution at detached factories without the necessary supervision compelled the firm to open its own workshop where it could exercise direct control over execution and could coordinate gemstone carving with subsequent jewelry and goldworking operations.

As gemstones assumed an increasing place in the volume of the firm's production, their qualities and intrinsic beauty stimulated artists to place them in the forefront, leaving to the metal settings the complementary, often purely technical, role of fastenings, hinges or clasps.

Nephrite was most widely used, because of its noble qualities and beauty. Nephrite was supplied from the river Onot in boulders or basic blocks from C.F. Woerffel's deposits. Both hard and ductile and free from the cracks which make many other stones so difficult to work, nephrite can be carved to the limits of perfection. Even beyond these limits, as we shall see, nephrite appears in many variations of tints of the basic grass-green color. It is practically impossible to determine the color and quality of the stone from a boulder or nugget, for a boulder covered with a splendid promising crust is often found to be disappointing when cut, while on the contrary rotten crusts («rotten» places in nephrite are soft whitish spots which crumble easily and do not take polish) often hide beautiful cores.

Nephrite may be divided into six kinds:

A Two-Colour Gold-Mounted Nephrite Photograph Frame, Marked Fabergé, With The Workmaster's Mark Of Henrik Wigström, St Petersburg, 1903-1904 Important Russian Art | London, 27 November 2017, lot 271. Photo: Christie’s

Translucent dark-green
Translucent with silver-nile-green streaks
Translucent light-green
Opaque black-green
Spotted
Crackled

Naturally, all these peculiar properties must be used in an intelligent approach to the work. When the dark-green kind is sliced very thin, it becomes translucent and acquires a beautiful rich green color, but if it is left thick, it looks almost black. The green sort with silvery streaks is the best for sculpture requiring a high degree of perfection, since it is very durable, harder than other varieties, and consequently takes a splendid polish.

The light-green kind was used in articles of a certain thickness, so that its color should be retained. Spotted and crackled nephrite was used for sculptured leaves, lending them a variety of hues.

In addition to those mentioned, there are other rarer kinds — grey, white, yellowish and even bluish-violet nephrites.

Grey nephrite, also known as Murgab nephrite, is the hardest of all, but we seldom used it because of its rarity.

We also worked with New Zealand nephrite brought from England, but its «dryness» or friability and insipid color led us to give preference to the Siberian variety.

The second place in our manufacture was taken by orletz (rhodonite). This gem is hardly ever suitable for sculpture because of its cracks and spots, but it gives excellent results in panels and pieces of a considerable size, while its bright pink clusters provide magnificent material for small items, such as knobs for walking sticks, umbrella handles and seals.

The intensity of the color of some clusters is reminiscent of that of rubies. My observations of rhodonite have led me to the conclusion that the highly appreciated bright pink clusters are always to be found near black layers of ironstone, so that a piece of orletzcovered with a thick black crust is more promising than one covered with a milky pink crust.

The main defect of rhodonite is the presence of numerous cracks, which often become apparent only during the working process and make it impossible to finish the piece.

Very reliable and versatile materials are the many varieties of jasper, the most noteworthy being Orsk jasper, with its warm basic colour enhanced by patterns of all shades of brown and green: forest thickets, rocks, valleys, trees and various fantastic motifs arise before the beholder's astonished eyes.

We generally used Orsk jasper in slices after the block had been sawn up. The slices were carefully studied by artists who chose the most interesting motifs and gave instructions for further cutting, the slabs thus obtained being used as panels, lids for snuff-boxes and caskets, brooches, and so forth, depending on their size.

Of the other widely employed varieties, grey Nikolaiev jasper was used for larger articles, such as tables, inkstands and candelabras. The even grey color of Kalgan jasper blended splendidly with gold mounts and enamel work. Without listing all the numerous varieties of jasper used in our production, I shall merely point out that jaspers with large patterns were mainly used for the manufacture of large objects.

An important part was played by Beloretsk quartz, especially the pink and crackled white (shramovsky) varieties.

The cracks in the latter made it difficult to work with, but the results achieved always compensated for failures and breakage: the quartz was absolutely transparent in some artefacts, while in others it was white like a frosted window- pane, and the most beautiful effect was obtained in vases and plaques of minimal thickness.

Serpentines were not widely employed because of their softness and permeability by adipose matter; an exception was made for jadeite, since its beautiful grape- green colour partly made up for its shortcomings.

Bukhara lazurite (lapis lazuli) was widely used for small items, especially in settings of the Renaissance and French 18th Century styles. Siberian lazurite occurs in larger pieces and is mounted in silver.

Rock crystal was used in a wide variety of articles and with carving and engraving, the settings being lavishly decorated with enamel and precious stones. Its fragility required particular skill on the part of the craftsman and only the most experienced masters worked with it. Since rock crystal cannot stand even the slightest heating, its settings were never soldered, but their parts joined only by rivets and other similar means.

All kinds of other stones were also employed, including sea pebbles and even cobble-stones, if their color or patterns were of artistic interest.

The firm’s gemstone creations can be divided into two categories. The first comprises carved stones in combination with metal and other articles made exclusively of carved gemstones.

The first category includes vases, tables, candelabras, clocks, snuffboxes and innumerable large and small objects and knick-knacks, framed in exquisite chiseled and engraved enamels, precious stones and noble metals.

The second category consists mainly of sculptures — figures of people and animals, flowers, fruit and mosaics.

The settings were incredibly lavish, the gold in Renaissance-style settings being given the most sophisticated treatment — embossing, engraving, tracery, enameling, and clasps of brilliants and colored gemstones.

This rich treatment of the settings emphasized the value of the framed stones. Some examples of this are quoted in the list of the firm’s most outstanding creations to which a separate chapter is devoted.

The sculptural category comprises numerous realistic, humorous or stylized representations of animals and people.

These miniature sculptures were very popular with our clientele up to the very last days. This success can be explained by the amusing nature of figures and also by the fact that, being made of non-precious materials, they made ideal gifts for occasions when the price of the article should not be noticeable. The passion for collecting also contributed to their popularity: many high-ranking persons had collections of these figures, and their entourage was aware that new items for their collection would be favourably accepted.

Such miniature sculptures were often portraits of their pet dogs, cats or parrots, such as the French bulldog of the actress Balletta commissioned by Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, or the beloved pigeons of King Edward of England. These were usually made of solid pieces of stone, but whenever possible the stone was chosen in colors and markings corresponding to the model. Jasper from the Ural and the Altai, brecciasand porphyries were the best materials for the purpose. This naturalistic selection of stones was only a step away from mosaic sculpture, where color effects are obtained by cementing different stones together or by inlay.

When such mosaics did not imitate nature too closely, the artistic image was preserved, but the craze for novelty, lack of taste on the part of the customers and their insistence on slavish imitation sometimes compelled us to produce unduly naturalistic artefacts and thereby to destroy the artistic effect.

The undoubted prototypes of these sculptures were Chinese and Japanese gemstone carvings. Their acquaintanceship first gave us the idea of creating figures of this kind. The manufacture of gemstone flowers, which has lately assumed a significant place in our business, has the same origin.

This genre of Chinese art was first brought to our attention when we were called upon to repair a bunch of chrysanthemums from the Palace of the Chinese Emperor after it had been occupied by the European landing force.

The chrysanthemums were made of corals, white nephrite and other stones, with leaves of grey nephrite and stems of square bunches of wire bound with green silk. Every petal was held in place by a wire connected to the calyx. The skillful selection of tints and the translucency of some of the gems produced a magnificent impression.

Unfortunately, as in the story about the steel mechanical flea which had stopped jumping because skillful masters managed to put tiny horse-shoes on its feet — the work was unique, but the flea had lost its main interest — our masters managed to make stems of stone, with the result that the flowers became more fragile and the bouquet became a curiosity of gemstone carving instead of a work of art.

Before we became acquainted with Chinese flowers, our firm had been manufacturing flowers in enamel with nephrite leaves.

A particularly successful image was that of dandelions, natural down being attached to gold hair-like lengths of wire with tiny brilliants: the sparkling spots of diamonds among the white fluff produced a wonderful effect and saved these artificial flowers from unduly close imitation of nature.

When our enameled flowers were first displayed at the Paris Exhibition in 1900, they were immediately copied by German and Austrian manufacturers and the market was flooded with cheap versions — lacquers instead of enamels and glass instead of rock crystal in vases.

Narcissi, jasmine, branches of white lilac and hyacinths were made of white quartz; sweet peas and other gaily-coloured flowers were made of rhodonite, quartz, cornelian and agate; leaves were usually made of nephrite, occasionally of green jasper and quartz.

The flowers were sometimes put into rock crystal vases, hollowed only in the upper half to produce an impression of water, and sometimes in pots of grey jasper or shokhan;a whole series of dwarf cactuses with flowers was particularly successful. Many of these works were purchased by Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna or given to her by friends and relations. Some specimens were sold in London, where they were safely delivered in spite of their fragility. The cost of manufacture was extremely high, and could reach several thousand roubles, according to the complexity of the floral composition. Since gemstone carving occupied a separate place in the firm, I shall mention here some outstanding creations in which metal settings played a leading part, and also the name of artists and masters who worked in this branch:

1. A nephrite wreath laid on the tomb of Gustav, King of Sweden. Laurel and oak branches were fixed to a slab of black marble.

2. A figure of Buddha and a ritual lamp, both in nephrite, manufactured for the Royal Temple of Siam. The pedestal was made of chased and enameled gold. The model of the figure was sent from Siam and the lamp was made in the Siamese style by the artist Jacobson on the basis of patterns also sent from Siam for the purpose.

A series of nephrite boxes with finely chiseled ornamentation was

also manufactured for the Siamese Court.

3. Some particularly successful animal sculptures were caricatures of elephants made of different stones as bibelots, seals and walruses in obsidian with a sheen giving the effect of amphibian fur, on bases of rock crystal in the shape of icefloes, and polar bears in yellowish white quartz on similar ice-floes. Another successful piece was an obsidian hippopotamus with the inside of its open mouth in rhodonite of the appropriate color. It is impossible to enumerate all the animals which served as models for these figures, but it should be noted that the postures chosen were as compact as possible, to meet the technical requirements of the material.

Turning to human figures, I shall mention the best of them, such as the humorous figures of a priest in a fur coat and cap and of a house- painter with a bucket and brushes behind his back. An extremely comical effect is achieved by the skilful representation of the proportions. The house-painter’s clothes stained with whitewash and paint are made of Siberian lazurite and Orsk jasper. Both figures were modelled by the sculptor Froedman-Cluzel.

A Tatar street pedlar. His skull-cap and coat are made of dark streaky nephrite; heaps of scarves, socks, kerchiefs and lace thrown over his skull-cap, shoulder and arms enliven the dark figure with gaily-coloured patches, and his typical lineaments complete the effect.

A lemonade-boy clad in a soiled apron carries an oversized jug on his head and has a mug attached to his belt.

The upper part of the jug is made of rock crystal and the lower part of gold topaz, so that the jug seems to be half-full.

The figure of a khaki-dad reserve soldier of 1914 is also interesting. He is represented lighting a cigarette, and his type, posture and facial expression are wonderfully conveyed. His khaki uniform made of green jaspers of various tints is also successfully rendered.

An ice-carrier: A horse drawing a sledge loaded with blocks of ice and a male carrier in a typical cap with ear-flaps stand on a pedestal of greyish quartz representing a sledge passage.

The ice blocks are made of quartz of various degrees of transparency to create the illusion of internal breaks. The horse is in brown jasper, with the mane a darker shade.

The whole group is interpreted in a naturalistic manner and its motion, characteristic types and details are rendered most successfully.

The last-named figures were executed after models by Georgii Savitskii which bear witness to his natural sensitivity and powers of observation. In many figures of Russian peasants and other folk characters, their tulups (sheepskin coats) are made of Beloretz quartz, its various shades being used to render new sheepskins as well as the most worn-out ones.

Before ending the chapter on gemstone-carving, something must be said about the organization of this branch and the masters concerned. When the artistic shortcomings of articles produced by Woerffel and in the Oberstein workshops induced the firm to establish a workshop of its own.

The artist P.M. Kremlev, who graduated from the Ekaterinburg Art School and devoted himself to the gemstone carving craft, was invited to serve as manager. Under his direction, the artistic level of the output immediately improved considerably, beginning with the disappearance of the mediocre dryness characteristic of works made by Woerffel or produced in Oberstein. Many articles were made personally by Kremlev. It is true that our work was more expensive than that done in Oberstein, but that could be mainly ascribed to a lack of technical equipment and to bad management. At the peak period ot its activity (1912-1914), the workshop employed 20 masters. They nevertheless had no time to fill all the orders, so that some simple tasks were sub-contracted to Ekaterinburg workshops; but the employees of the main workshop were constantly working overtime because of the shortage of experienced masters.

The workshop survived until 1917, when it was closed down because of the lack of materials and masters who were mobilized at various periods.

Among the masters, special mention should be made of Derbyshev, a talented and original personality from Ekaterinburg. I made his acquaintance in 1908 when he arrived in Saint Petersburg in search of work; to be more precise, he walked there, for he made most of the journey on foot, taking odd jobs as a loader or a market-gardener to earn his living. He came to Saint Petersburg dressed in rags and shod in lapti(bark shoes). We at once recognized him as a business-like and gifted master and the firm hastened to provide him with decent clothes and footwear; since our own workshop was only being projected at the time, he was sent to Woerffel’s factory, where he worked for a year and saved up a little money.

Then at our recommendation, he went to Oberstein for advanced study, and from there to Paris to work for the artistic gem-carver Lalique, who was so delighted by his talents that he wanted to make Derbyshev his successor and to marry him to his daughter. But destiny willed otherwise: nostalgia or maybe fear of the marriage made him return to Russia at the beginning of 1914; he was mobilized during the first months of the war and perished in the capture of Lvov. The firm had intended to entrust him with the assignment and management of the new workshop, and it is absolutely no exaggeration to say that in his person Russian gemstone carving lost its best master and perhaps the only one with an artistic education.

Our relations with Ural manufacturers before 1914 were only occasional. From time to time they would supply us with gemstone articles, most of which were unsatisfactory in all respects: it was indeed painful to see how those beautiful stones had been spoiled by poor workmanship.

The firm bought these objects for the stones, and then broke them up to save certain parts or, if possible, to correct defects of design and treatment.

This state of affairs gave me the idea of going to Ekaterinburg to acquaint myself on the spot with the available supply of stones and the means of production.

The business was dying, since many masters had been mobilized and many workshops had been closed down or were operating with only a third of the staff.

After visiting the workshops of Lipin, Lazarev and others, I had long conversations with their owners, who listened willingly to my suggestions.

Having selected from their stocks a considerable number of slabs, pieces and blocks, I described their application and made sketches of the articles to be manufactured, at the same time pointing out defects of gem-working which had to be eliminated. With regard to the artistic aspect, I realized that the problem had to be discussed elsewhere, and I went to the Art School.

Since the director was away on leave, I applied to his deputy, the artist and teacher G. Almazov, who willingly informed me about the position of gemstone carving at the school and showed me the school workshops and objects made by pupils. During two long conversations, we thrashed out the reasons for the artistic backwardness of the craft — first, the complete isolation of the school from the manufacturers, secondly shortage of funds, and thirdly, the low wages paid locally which prevented pupils from choosing gemstone carving as a career. It became clear that to ensure a normal development, a series of measures would have to be taken at the government level.

Before leaving the city, I proposed that every year the school should send the most gifted gemstone carving pupils to our workshop in Saint Petersburg, the costs being borne by the House of Faberge and by the school.

The Ekaterinburg gem-carving factory closed down, the premises were occupied by the military, and

many machines were dismantled. Having obtained permission from His Majesty's Cabinet, I purchased several slabs, bars and the like for our workshop.

With regard to the firm's relations with the Siberian market, mention should be made of the purchase of a whole series of small articles from the Kolyvan factory which were technically well executed. Judging from the drawings, these articles might have been manufactured long ago and stored at the factory for years. From that source we also obtained a set of over a hundred samples of jasper and other minerals, and also some slabs of jasper and quartz.

During my stay in Ekaterinburg I had the good fortune to meet Kalugin, a fascinating and interesting person. He quickly became a good friend and we made plans for a joint tour of the gem deposits of the Ural the following summer. A great connoisseur (...) he informed me (...).

Frants P. Birbaum’s 1919 manuscript breaks off here

Frants Birbaum left Soviet Russia on 20 May 1920 and went back to Switzerland in a Red Cross convoy. In his mind, it was for only a short period: he thought he could help the Russian people by sending designs for «artistic»new china that the Lomonosov Factory would produce. Fersman never answered his letters.

In Switzerland, Frants Birbaum (known subsequently as Francois Birbaum)kept in touch with the Faberge family, especially with Eugene Faberge. But at the end of the 1920s, he was no longer interested in luxury jewelry. Victor Hammer (Armand’s brother) travelled to Aigle (Switzerland) to see him in order to authenticate some Faberge artefacts but met with a refusal. Birbaum never spoke about his Russian years, the part he played at Faberge or his role among the Soviets. A closed chapter...