What do you think?
Rate this book
Faberge's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire
Between 1885 and 1916, Carl Faberge made fifty fabulous jewelled eggs - Easter presents from Russia's last two emperors to their wives. They have become the most famous surviving symbols of the Romanov Empire: supreme examples of the jeweller's art, but, to some, the vulgar playthings of a decadent court on the brink of revolution. Every one of these masterpieces is a slice of history, with each telling its own remarkable story." "Commissioned to produce a different egg every year, Faberge began a relentless search for novelty. It would see him exploiting, and extending, almost every jewellery technique and style available, creating eggs which reflected the lives and characters of the empresses who would receive them. Lavishly extravagant eggs commemorate public events that now seem little more than staging posts on the march to revolution. Others contrast the joie de vivre of the older tsarina, Marie Fedorovna, with her daughter-in-law Alexandra's shy and domestic spirituality. The muted austerity of the final few eggs seems all too appropriate for a country fighting to survive in the First World War." The abdication of the last tsar, Nicholas II, brought the sequence to an end. As he and his family were brutally massacred in a Siberian basement, the eggs disappeared, only to emerge years later in the storerooms of the Kremlin. Their subsequent history encompasses Bolsheviks and entrepreneurs, tycoons and heiresses, con-men and queens. Eggs have been sold and smuggled, stolen and forged. Now, as they return to Russia, bought by oligarchs, their history - like that of Russia itself- seems to have come full circle. Faberge's Eggs provides an engrossing, compelling and at timessurprising window onto the empire these masterpieces outlived.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 9, 2008
48 people are currently reading
543 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
July 8, 2021
This awful book is prejudiced, self-contradictory, and absurdly ill-informed. Despite his book's very new copyright date, Faber rehearses myths, outdated speculations, and uninformed personal opinion as though it were all fact, neverminding the fact that discoveries in the early 2000s had blown the lid off many of these misconceptions. Further rendering the book both outdated and useless (and not even of historical interest), within months of its publication, new articles were published that disproved a number of the myth-like theories he attempts to perpetuate.
The book is flatly not well researched; it seems as though Faber wrote it sometime in the late 90s, found the manuscript in a drawer, and sent it undoctored to a publisher in 2007. For instance, he writes at the beginning of chapter 8, "Nicholas and Alexandra feared that public knowledge of Alexis's illness would destabilize the throne. They guarded the truth about his condition extremely closely. Even Marie may not have known of her grandson's deadly inheritance." He's talking about the fact that there are no red Easter eggs after Alexei's birth in 1904. (Actually, he phrases it "For more than a decade after the Tsarevitch's birth the eggs that Fabergé made for both Marie and Alexandra would almost entirely shun the colour red." But it's not complicated to look at them and see that there are no red eggs whatever after 1904. There aren't even noticeably red decorations on any of them, either.) The sudden absence of the color red after Alexei's birth is exclusively treated by Fabergé scholars as a response to the Imperial family's distress about Alexei's condition. Whether Fabergé himself knew or whether Nicholas made a very simple statement of "hey, no more red eggs," it is not complicated to make the connection. Not that Fabergé was terribly fond of red anyway--there are only two known red eggs, two red surprises (one to a lost egg), and one egg with red decorative touches (before 1904). And yet Monsieur Faber authoritatively declares, "It is surely reading too much into the eggs to assume that their colours were the result of anything more than Fabergé's remorseless search for original and pleasing themes." I won't even get into a discussion about his bizarre choice of the word "remorseless," the meaning of which has nothing to do with the sense of that sentence. Then he refers to Gatchina Palace as "Marie's summer residence," willfully or ignorantly ignoring the far more obvious reason for the egg's significance--that was where she had spent her days as tsaritsa and where she had raised her children including Nicholas II. He also considered the Gatchina Palace egg a "failure," a judgment of it never repeated in any other book on the subject that I have read.
Another example of where he veers wildly off track is when he says of the Coronation Egg of 1897 that "it is doubtful whether any gift held more unwelcome memories for its recipient." He oddly has no judgment of the sort for the 1906 Moscow Kremlin Egg, actually stamped twice with the date 1904; scholars have well established that it was delayed twice, the first time because of massive Russian defeats by the Japanese, and the second time because Nicholas' favorite uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, was suddenly and shockingly assassinated in the Kremlin, and the gift was clearly inappropriate. Others speculate on its status as an unpleasant reminder--though it could just as likely been a touching memorial--to the royal couple, but not Mr. Faber, whose vote for "most unpleasant reminder ever" sits with the glorious yellow Coronation Egg--the thieves' target in Ocean's 12--because the day Nicholas came to power was certainly far more unpleasant to remember than the day his favorite uncle was blown to pieces.
If I'm going to be fair, there is a brief afterword that provides some recent discoveries -- but no way this redeems the rest of this awful book. The first chapters are nearly unbearable; his obvious prejudice against the Romanov family has me wondering why he didn't choose a topic he found more palatable to write about. I have other examples of his idiocy, but I'm tired. This guy is so obviously on the side of the communists, I can't imagine why he ever took it into his head to write a book about Fabergé eggs and then spend the whole book demonizing the Imperial family rather than even talking about Fabergé. He contradicts himself left, right, and center. He keeps complaining about Imperial Russia being an "anachronism" . . . at a date in history when half the world was under the control of the British Empire! I just don't think they were quite outdated yet. On one page, he sadly observes that Alexander II's reforms weren't enough for the people who wanted to destroy the system and start over from the ground up; a chapter later, he complains that more reforms weren't made. I thought you said those were useless?? Anyway--the Romanovs were murdered in a thoroughly beastly fashion; I just don't think they need some little twerp from the 21st century tearing them apart. I have a related outburst which goes something like this, People are way too hard on Nicholas II, and I wonder if in our human nature to want people to "deserve" what they get, we have characterized him in a way he doesn't deserve at all. Was he actually a bad ruler, or do we just think so because we want him to have deserved what he got? (Though that begs the question, almost instantly, of whether incompetence really deserves execution in a basement in the middle of the night, and whether one's family ought to be butchered as well, and then have the bodies lost for 80 years.)
In conclusion, I wasn't expecting pictures, and there are very few (practically none of the eggs he writes about). I was expecting more details about the lives of the Fabergés, and there is precious little of that. I acknowledge that the final portion of the book is much better; it traces the sale of the eggs and describes various purchasers and collectors. Still, on the whole, I recommend readers to try another book. If you want pictures, you can do no worse than Gerard Hill's Fabergé and the Russian Master Goldsmiths, a book with pictures that positively glow on the page. For history and pictures, Karen Farrington's Fabergé is a masterpiece. And of course, Tatiana Fabergé's own The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs is flawlessly researched, interesting, and full of history and pictures in abundance. Don't waste your time on Tony Faber.
The book is flatly not well researched; it seems as though Faber wrote it sometime in the late 90s, found the manuscript in a drawer, and sent it undoctored to a publisher in 2007. For instance, he writes at the beginning of chapter 8, "Nicholas and Alexandra feared that public knowledge of Alexis's illness would destabilize the throne. They guarded the truth about his condition extremely closely. Even Marie may not have known of her grandson's deadly inheritance." He's talking about the fact that there are no red Easter eggs after Alexei's birth in 1904. (Actually, he phrases it "For more than a decade after the Tsarevitch's birth the eggs that Fabergé made for both Marie and Alexandra would almost entirely shun the colour red." But it's not complicated to look at them and see that there are no red eggs whatever after 1904. There aren't even noticeably red decorations on any of them, either.) The sudden absence of the color red after Alexei's birth is exclusively treated by Fabergé scholars as a response to the Imperial family's distress about Alexei's condition. Whether Fabergé himself knew or whether Nicholas made a very simple statement of "hey, no more red eggs," it is not complicated to make the connection. Not that Fabergé was terribly fond of red anyway--there are only two known red eggs, two red surprises (one to a lost egg), and one egg with red decorative touches (before 1904). And yet Monsieur Faber authoritatively declares, "It is surely reading too much into the eggs to assume that their colours were the result of anything more than Fabergé's remorseless search for original and pleasing themes." I won't even get into a discussion about his bizarre choice of the word "remorseless," the meaning of which has nothing to do with the sense of that sentence. Then he refers to Gatchina Palace as "Marie's summer residence," willfully or ignorantly ignoring the far more obvious reason for the egg's significance--that was where she had spent her days as tsaritsa and where she had raised her children including Nicholas II. He also considered the Gatchina Palace egg a "failure," a judgment of it never repeated in any other book on the subject that I have read.
Another example of where he veers wildly off track is when he says of the Coronation Egg of 1897 that "it is doubtful whether any gift held more unwelcome memories for its recipient." He oddly has no judgment of the sort for the 1906 Moscow Kremlin Egg, actually stamped twice with the date 1904; scholars have well established that it was delayed twice, the first time because of massive Russian defeats by the Japanese, and the second time because Nicholas' favorite uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, was suddenly and shockingly assassinated in the Kremlin, and the gift was clearly inappropriate. Others speculate on its status as an unpleasant reminder--though it could just as likely been a touching memorial--to the royal couple, but not Mr. Faber, whose vote for "most unpleasant reminder ever" sits with the glorious yellow Coronation Egg--the thieves' target in Ocean's 12--because the day Nicholas came to power was certainly far more unpleasant to remember than the day his favorite uncle was blown to pieces.
If I'm going to be fair, there is a brief afterword that provides some recent discoveries -- but no way this redeems the rest of this awful book. The first chapters are nearly unbearable; his obvious prejudice against the Romanov family has me wondering why he didn't choose a topic he found more palatable to write about. I have other examples of his idiocy, but I'm tired. This guy is so obviously on the side of the communists, I can't imagine why he ever took it into his head to write a book about Fabergé eggs and then spend the whole book demonizing the Imperial family rather than even talking about Fabergé. He contradicts himself left, right, and center. He keeps complaining about Imperial Russia being an "anachronism" . . . at a date in history when half the world was under the control of the British Empire! I just don't think they were quite outdated yet. On one page, he sadly observes that Alexander II's reforms weren't enough for the people who wanted to destroy the system and start over from the ground up; a chapter later, he complains that more reforms weren't made. I thought you said those were useless?? Anyway--the Romanovs were murdered in a thoroughly beastly fashion; I just don't think they need some little twerp from the 21st century tearing them apart. I have a related outburst which goes something like this, People are way too hard on Nicholas II, and I wonder if in our human nature to want people to "deserve" what they get, we have characterized him in a way he doesn't deserve at all. Was he actually a bad ruler, or do we just think so because we want him to have deserved what he got? (Though that begs the question, almost instantly, of whether incompetence really deserves execution in a basement in the middle of the night, and whether one's family ought to be butchered as well, and then have the bodies lost for 80 years.)
In conclusion, I wasn't expecting pictures, and there are very few (practically none of the eggs he writes about). I was expecting more details about the lives of the Fabergés, and there is precious little of that. I acknowledge that the final portion of the book is much better; it traces the sale of the eggs and describes various purchasers and collectors. Still, on the whole, I recommend readers to try another book. If you want pictures, you can do no worse than Gerard Hill's Fabergé and the Russian Master Goldsmiths, a book with pictures that positively glow on the page. For history and pictures, Karen Farrington's Fabergé is a masterpiece. And of course, Tatiana Fabergé's own The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs is flawlessly researched, interesting, and full of history and pictures in abundance. Don't waste your time on Tony Faber.
February 10, 2023
At the time of its publication this was, and still is I think, one of the best and most accurate books on those ridiculous Easter eggs which we value so highly but we're perhaps not quite as valued by the last tsar and his wife. After all when they began their exile to Tobolsk with several train carriages full of luggage and even furnishings from the imperial palace they did not find room for even one of the two dozen eggs they owned.
I could spend a lot of time and words discussing the Fabergé eggs because of the way they seem to embody so much but on closer reflection don't, particularly about the Russia of the Tsars'. They are such an obvious example of decadence - jewelled eggs! - as a metaphor or symbol of an old order waiting to be pushed aside they are so good one might almost imagine they are a fiction. But they aren't and nor until the Soviet Union collapsed and various Russian oligarchs/criminals started buying back the tsarist baubles the revolution had sold abroad, were they particularly expensive status symbols. There is so much irony in the story of these eggs.
If you hate Fabergé and his eggs you are unlikely to read this book, which is a pity because it is more then unthinking fan literature to priceless trinkets. Toby Faber is a thoughtful and intelligent commentator on art and culture. This is a book about jewelled eggs, but it is one with more to say then you might think.
I could spend a lot of time and words discussing the Fabergé eggs because of the way they seem to embody so much but on closer reflection don't, particularly about the Russia of the Tsars'. They are such an obvious example of decadence - jewelled eggs! - as a metaphor or symbol of an old order waiting to be pushed aside they are so good one might almost imagine they are a fiction. But they aren't and nor until the Soviet Union collapsed and various Russian oligarchs/criminals started buying back the tsarist baubles the revolution had sold abroad, were they particularly expensive status symbols. There is so much irony in the story of these eggs.
If you hate Fabergé and his eggs you are unlikely to read this book, which is a pity because it is more then unthinking fan literature to priceless trinkets. Toby Faber is a thoughtful and intelligent commentator on art and culture. This is a book about jewelled eggs, but it is one with more to say then you might think.
February 2, 2020
Very interesting, providing a new look at the Russian Revolution-and the eggs that are themselves shrouded in mystery to some extent. I would have liked more pictures, especially of the eggs-I had to look all of them up, as the descriptions often weren’t enough.
April 11, 2021
Based on the title alone, I expected this to be a book about the eggs. It was so much more than that. It was a fascinating glimpse of Russian history, specifically the era of the last 2 czars. This was especially pertinent since my great grandparents immigrated from Russian held Ukraine at the turn of the century.
Even though you know what’s coming, the slaughter of the royal family is still a blow. I was left feeling faintly resentful toward George V.
The book traipses through the 20th century a bit and comes to rest with Malcolm Forbes driving up the prices of the imperial eggs in his obsession to own more of them than Russia itself does. Who knew? Certainly not me.
If I end up reading more Russian history this year, it will be because this book has piqued my interest.
Even though you know what’s coming, the slaughter of the royal family is still a blow. I was left feeling faintly resentful toward George V.
The book traipses through the 20th century a bit and comes to rest with Malcolm Forbes driving up the prices of the imperial eggs in his obsession to own more of them than Russia itself does. Who knew? Certainly not me.
If I end up reading more Russian history this year, it will be because this book has piqued my interest.
August 16, 2022
A good overview of what happened to the famous Faberge eggs of the Romanovs (basically the last two tsars and their wives/mother). There was enough detail to give an idea of what went on, without overwhelming the reader with so many details.
I would recommend reading the book in front of the internet, as I found actually seeing these eggs in full colour added a lot to the story. Written descriptions, especially the formulaic ones used by auction houses and Faberge himself for invoicing, don't do them credit.
I would recommend reading the book in front of the internet, as I found actually seeing these eggs in full colour added a lot to the story. Written descriptions, especially the formulaic ones used by auction houses and Faberge himself for invoicing, don't do them credit.
December 22, 2008
Between 1885 and 1917, the workshops of Carl Fabergé produced more than 50 hand-crafted eggs that were given as Easter gifts to the last two Russian czarinas. In this highly readable account, Toby Faber tells the story of these eggs, the jewelers who produced them, the dying regime that commissioned them, and how they came to be some of the world's most highly coveted objects in the century following the fall of the czars.
Though I was drawn to this book by my own glittery fascination with these exotic creations from another time, I came away from it with a much more solid understanding of Russian history and the conditions that led to the Communist revolution. Faber also adds an interesting layer of psychology to his account by speculating on why Fabergé chose various themes for the czarina's eggs, pointing out things like how, in the years following the revelation that the heir to the throne suffered from hemophilia, the color red all but disappeared from the czarina's annual Easter gifts.
The last section of the book contains elements of mystery as Faber traces the eggs' fate in the chaotic wake of the revolution, eight of which are still missing. Passionate collectors lost no time in seeing the value of those that came on the market as the new Soviet government tried to raise hard currency, but Faber makes a good case that Malcom Forbes' obsession with owning more imperial eggs than the Kremlin is in large part responsible for the stratospheric prices that they now command. Though I have yet to see one myself, Faber's book helped me better understand why the widespread public fascination with these last examples of a lost artistic and imperial tradition is well-justified.
Though I was drawn to this book by my own glittery fascination with these exotic creations from another time, I came away from it with a much more solid understanding of Russian history and the conditions that led to the Communist revolution. Faber also adds an interesting layer of psychology to his account by speculating on why Fabergé chose various themes for the czarina's eggs, pointing out things like how, in the years following the revelation that the heir to the throne suffered from hemophilia, the color red all but disappeared from the czarina's annual Easter gifts.
The last section of the book contains elements of mystery as Faber traces the eggs' fate in the chaotic wake of the revolution, eight of which are still missing. Passionate collectors lost no time in seeing the value of those that came on the market as the new Soviet government tried to raise hard currency, but Faber makes a good case that Malcom Forbes' obsession with owning more imperial eggs than the Kremlin is in large part responsible for the stratospheric prices that they now command. Though I have yet to see one myself, Faber's book helped me better understand why the widespread public fascination with these last examples of a lost artistic and imperial tradition is well-justified.
December 1, 2024
Fascinating history of some of history's most spectacular small objects - not just the circumstances which led to the creation of Fabergé's eggs, but what happened them in the aftermath of the death of the Tzar.
The first egg was an Easter gift in 1885 - Easter being a bigger event than Christmas in the Orthodox calendar - from the Tzar Alexander III to his wife, Maria. Fabergé was one of many jewellers in St Petersburg, but the gift he produced was so sublime the Tzar immediately placed a standing order for a new egg each year, on the understanding each egg be unique and contain a surprise. When the Tzar died in 1894, his successor, Nicholas II, continued the tradition for his wife, but Maria still wanted her egg as well - so two a year were made; 52 royal eggs in total.
Here we have one of the few problems with the book - the eggs are described well, but the photos accompanying the text are all in black and white and neither can really do the actual eggs justice. You find yourself googling them as you go along, and they're spectacular. A full-colour photo section could really have added to this book. (One of the few other problems with the book is the reporting of the myth that Rasputin's autopsy says he died by drowning - one of those errors which makes you unwillingly query other factoids in the book)
The story of the eggs charts the history of Russia from 1885 to 1917, with commemorative eggs marking the opening of the Trans Siberian railway, or the 100th anniversary of the defeat of Napoleon. This didn't always work out - the 1891 Memory of Azov egg commemorated the ship the Tzar was on a long-distance trip to the Far East on. During the trip, his son, the future Nicholas II survived an assassination attempt, which imbued the egg with some bad memories for its owner. Similarly, the early eggs commemorating the Tzarevich Alexis II (after four daughters) took a different tone when his haemophilia became known. Sometimes Fabergé is shown struggling for ideas - yet another egg where miniature portraits of the family pop out - yet strokes of genius continue to emerge with regularity; the 1914 Mosaic Egg or the 1913 Winter Egg for example.
All this background info on the eggs fills them with more depth than mere objets d'art, as indeed does the general social background - a peasant life expectancy of 35, the Potempkin revolution and the subsequent massacre of protestors, and still the annual Fabergé egg present, valued at many times a peasant's annual (if not lifetime) salary. The eggs add an extra layer of disconnect between royalty and subject.
The Tzar is assassinated half-way through, and Fabergé dies in exile a few pages later, in 1920. This starts the second part of the story, which is equally as interesting as the first. The Tzar's palace is raided and its objects claimed as bourgeoisie tools of oppression (or some such). Some are lost in the chaos that follows - possibly destroyed, possibly broken down for scrap, their artistic value completely ignored. Some are smuggled out of the country by surviving royals, others are sold by the Kremlin to raise vital foreign funds.
In the worldwide crash of the late 20s, demand for the eggs remained low. A group which made its way to private ownership in America were exhibited at shopping centres to generate income. Armand Hammer - possibly with Stalin quietly behind him - boosted sales with a number of fakes, and was rarely bothered with provenance of real eggs. It's all part of the tangled web modern historians must weave to retrace the story of the eggs. A handful remain lost, a couple have recently been found, and there's always hopes one of the lost ones will be uncovered at some stage in the future, in a private collection or the Kremlin armoury. There's a lot of items there that are still undocumented.
But ultimately the eggs are nice things, and discerning art dealers recognised this - Malcolm Forbes, owner of Forbes magazine for example, was more than happy to buy low and sell high. A bidding war with the Kremlin ensued to see who could own more - though some of Forbes' are later shown to be fake, or at least not Imperial eggs. The collection is ultimately sold after Forbes' death when they became so valuable that they could have caused huge financial issues had one of Forbes' sons died.
It does all explain why there's no proper central exhibition of eggs - or indeed a book collating images from all the eggs. The collection has been split up, and while the Kremlin may be unlikely to sell its lot, it's equally unlikely they'll ever coalesce to a here handful of owners; oil sheikhs are the latest to get in on the act, spending $10m on the Winter Egg.
Overall, a fascinating book which really adds depth to beautiful objects.
The first egg was an Easter gift in 1885 - Easter being a bigger event than Christmas in the Orthodox calendar - from the Tzar Alexander III to his wife, Maria. Fabergé was one of many jewellers in St Petersburg, but the gift he produced was so sublime the Tzar immediately placed a standing order for a new egg each year, on the understanding each egg be unique and contain a surprise. When the Tzar died in 1894, his successor, Nicholas II, continued the tradition for his wife, but Maria still wanted her egg as well - so two a year were made; 52 royal eggs in total.
Here we have one of the few problems with the book - the eggs are described well, but the photos accompanying the text are all in black and white and neither can really do the actual eggs justice. You find yourself googling them as you go along, and they're spectacular. A full-colour photo section could really have added to this book. (One of the few other problems with the book is the reporting of the myth that Rasputin's autopsy says he died by drowning - one of those errors which makes you unwillingly query other factoids in the book)
The story of the eggs charts the history of Russia from 1885 to 1917, with commemorative eggs marking the opening of the Trans Siberian railway, or the 100th anniversary of the defeat of Napoleon. This didn't always work out - the 1891 Memory of Azov egg commemorated the ship the Tzar was on a long-distance trip to the Far East on. During the trip, his son, the future Nicholas II survived an assassination attempt, which imbued the egg with some bad memories for its owner. Similarly, the early eggs commemorating the Tzarevich Alexis II (after four daughters) took a different tone when his haemophilia became known. Sometimes Fabergé is shown struggling for ideas - yet another egg where miniature portraits of the family pop out - yet strokes of genius continue to emerge with regularity; the 1914 Mosaic Egg or the 1913 Winter Egg for example.
All this background info on the eggs fills them with more depth than mere objets d'art, as indeed does the general social background - a peasant life expectancy of 35, the Potempkin revolution and the subsequent massacre of protestors, and still the annual Fabergé egg present, valued at many times a peasant's annual (if not lifetime) salary. The eggs add an extra layer of disconnect between royalty and subject.
The Tzar is assassinated half-way through, and Fabergé dies in exile a few pages later, in 1920. This starts the second part of the story, which is equally as interesting as the first. The Tzar's palace is raided and its objects claimed as bourgeoisie tools of oppression (or some such). Some are lost in the chaos that follows - possibly destroyed, possibly broken down for scrap, their artistic value completely ignored. Some are smuggled out of the country by surviving royals, others are sold by the Kremlin to raise vital foreign funds.
In the worldwide crash of the late 20s, demand for the eggs remained low. A group which made its way to private ownership in America were exhibited at shopping centres to generate income. Armand Hammer - possibly with Stalin quietly behind him - boosted sales with a number of fakes, and was rarely bothered with provenance of real eggs. It's all part of the tangled web modern historians must weave to retrace the story of the eggs. A handful remain lost, a couple have recently been found, and there's always hopes one of the lost ones will be uncovered at some stage in the future, in a private collection or the Kremlin armoury. There's a lot of items there that are still undocumented.
But ultimately the eggs are nice things, and discerning art dealers recognised this - Malcolm Forbes, owner of Forbes magazine for example, was more than happy to buy low and sell high. A bidding war with the Kremlin ensued to see who could own more - though some of Forbes' are later shown to be fake, or at least not Imperial eggs. The collection is ultimately sold after Forbes' death when they became so valuable that they could have caused huge financial issues had one of Forbes' sons died.
It does all explain why there's no proper central exhibition of eggs - or indeed a book collating images from all the eggs. The collection has been split up, and while the Kremlin may be unlikely to sell its lot, it's equally unlikely they'll ever coalesce to a here handful of owners; oil sheikhs are the latest to get in on the act, spending $10m on the Winter Egg.
Overall, a fascinating book which really adds depth to beautiful objects.
March 19, 2021
Regardless of you personally may feel about the extravagance and opulence of the metal and stone Easter eggs created and constructed in the workshop of Carl Faberge and presented to the royal family of Russia, they are not only unique but display craftsmanship only achieved by a collection of talented artisans all under the same roof.
Faber tells the tale of the Easter egg presentations that were originally appeared simple - a white egg that opened to a golden yolk. But like Russian nesting dolls, the yolk opened further to display a golden hen with finely etched feathers which, in turn, opened to a ruby pendant that matched the hen's ruby eyes and a tiny gem-encrusted crown. Given by Czar Alexander III to his wife Maria and so started a standing order with the jeweler - every year, a new unique egg and there had to be a surprise inside.
In time, once Alexander and Maria's son, Nicholas married and took the throne, tsarina Alexandra would receive an Easter egg even as the tsar continued to bestow an annual egg to his mother. Of course, Faber does go into the fall of the family as well as the approval of Lenin to "loot the looters" as he considered the nobility and destruction rampaged through royal palaces and noble mansions and estates. That anything managed to escape destruction could be considered a miracle - at one time, silver and gemstones were pried off antique books for the value of the metal. In fact, the Russian government at the time had experts go through the tens of thousands of jewelry, painting and other luxury goods to choose what could be sold to the West for the best prices. Totally ignoring any part that these items may have had in their own national history.
And it is in the West that the Faberge eggs found homes - among the nobility of Europe, the extravagantly wealthy of the United States. Malcolm Forbes of Forbes magazine at one time had nine of them and several were owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post.
In the end, 52 "Imperial" eggs were constructed in which 46 are recognized as having survived. Many surprises have been lost over the years and in one case, the surprise is in the possession of a collector/museum while the egg's location is unknown. Preliminary sketches for the pair of 1917 eggs have been found and some even think that a pair of eggs discovered 'recently' are the unfinished pieces but it is controversial.
Although this book focuses on the eggs, the company of Carl Faberge and his workers are permanently intertwined with the fall of the Russian tsars so history - from Alexander III through today - was an integral part of the story.
The only negative that I can perceive is that I wish for more photos of the eggs. Especially since in some case, photos are the only proof that a number did exist but there have been professional photos taken over the years when they have been either on display for an exhibition or for an auction house catalogue.
2021-056
Faber tells the tale of the Easter egg presentations that were originally appeared simple - a white egg that opened to a golden yolk. But like Russian nesting dolls, the yolk opened further to display a golden hen with finely etched feathers which, in turn, opened to a ruby pendant that matched the hen's ruby eyes and a tiny gem-encrusted crown. Given by Czar Alexander III to his wife Maria and so started a standing order with the jeweler - every year, a new unique egg and there had to be a surprise inside.
In time, once Alexander and Maria's son, Nicholas married and took the throne, tsarina Alexandra would receive an Easter egg even as the tsar continued to bestow an annual egg to his mother. Of course, Faber does go into the fall of the family as well as the approval of Lenin to "loot the looters" as he considered the nobility and destruction rampaged through royal palaces and noble mansions and estates. That anything managed to escape destruction could be considered a miracle - at one time, silver and gemstones were pried off antique books for the value of the metal. In fact, the Russian government at the time had experts go through the tens of thousands of jewelry, painting and other luxury goods to choose what could be sold to the West for the best prices. Totally ignoring any part that these items may have had in their own national history.
And it is in the West that the Faberge eggs found homes - among the nobility of Europe, the extravagantly wealthy of the United States. Malcolm Forbes of Forbes magazine at one time had nine of them and several were owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post.
In the end, 52 "Imperial" eggs were constructed in which 46 are recognized as having survived. Many surprises have been lost over the years and in one case, the surprise is in the possession of a collector/museum while the egg's location is unknown. Preliminary sketches for the pair of 1917 eggs have been found and some even think that a pair of eggs discovered 'recently' are the unfinished pieces but it is controversial.
Although this book focuses on the eggs, the company of Carl Faberge and his workers are permanently intertwined with the fall of the Russian tsars so history - from Alexander III through today - was an integral part of the story.
The only negative that I can perceive is that I wish for more photos of the eggs. Especially since in some case, photos are the only proof that a number did exist but there have been professional photos taken over the years when they have been either on display for an exhibition or for an auction house catalogue.
2021-056
July 14, 2022
This is an in-depth study of the Russian Revolution from the perspective of Imperial Jeweller Carl Fabergé, his family and how the Fabergé creations affected so many lives across the decades that followed.
Fabergé is best known for their monumental craftsmanship of delicate "eggs" that were created in various materials such as enamel, gold, silver and gemstones. Throughout history they were ever linked with the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as they purchased these precious trinkets to gift at Easter celebrations to their respective wives Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna.
This book provides such a fascinating insight into what was required from the role of an Imperial Jeweller and how Carl Fabergé had to anticipate what would please the recipients of the gifts. I found the descriptions of the excessive opulence of the eggs discomforting as they were often used to represent their wealth and the author expressed clearly the dire contrast in the situations between that of the wealthy and of the poor.
It was tragic to read how carelessly some of the beautifully artefacts that Fabergé had created were handled during and after the Revolution and Faber does well to evoke sentimentality in these objects and the memories that they were ever linked to.
This was a very successful and interesting narrative of the Russian Revolution from a different perspective, however my only fault is that I wished there were more images of the eggs that were discussed in order to gain a greater insight into the beauty and significance of the imagery and symbolism that it featured. Despite this, I still highly recommend this book to those interested in this area of history.
Fabergé is best known for their monumental craftsmanship of delicate "eggs" that were created in various materials such as enamel, gold, silver and gemstones. Throughout history they were ever linked with the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as they purchased these precious trinkets to gift at Easter celebrations to their respective wives Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna.
This book provides such a fascinating insight into what was required from the role of an Imperial Jeweller and how Carl Fabergé had to anticipate what would please the recipients of the gifts. I found the descriptions of the excessive opulence of the eggs discomforting as they were often used to represent their wealth and the author expressed clearly the dire contrast in the situations between that of the wealthy and of the poor.
It was tragic to read how carelessly some of the beautifully artefacts that Fabergé had created were handled during and after the Revolution and Faber does well to evoke sentimentality in these objects and the memories that they were ever linked to.
This was a very successful and interesting narrative of the Russian Revolution from a different perspective, however my only fault is that I wished there were more images of the eggs that were discussed in order to gain a greater insight into the beauty and significance of the imagery and symbolism that it featured. Despite this, I still highly recommend this book to those interested in this area of history.
June 21, 2025
I'm endlessly fascinated by the last Tsar of Russia, his family, and their downfall. And I actually saw one (or two?) of the Faberge eggs that were owned by the Tsars at a museum once, and I believe I bought this book then. Recently found it on a bookshelf and decided I better read it! It's a fascinating history of that vital period in Russia when the workers were sick of being ruled by dictators and Nicholas and his wife were too wrapped up in themselves to notice or take heed, no matter what advice they were given. Not to mention Rasputin, whose advice they did take! An absolutely crazy slice of history and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about it again.
November 4, 2022
Eenmaal je begint te lezen over de Romanovs krijg je er niet meer genoeg van! Tot dusver het meest boeiende boek die ik over hen heb gelezen. Het boek geeft me echt zin om meer te lezen over Marie Fedorovna, de dowager empress, en Felix Youssoupov, de moordenaar van Rasputin.
De paasgeschenken van Fabergé staan centraal. Hoe raakten de Tsaren eraan verknocht en wat gebeurt er met de eieren na de val van het koninkrijk? Een heel mooi relaas aan recente Europese geschiedenis verteld aan de hand van een aantal kunstwerpen.
De paasgeschenken van Fabergé staan centraal. Hoe raakten de Tsaren eraan verknocht en wat gebeurt er met de eieren na de val van het koninkrijk? Een heel mooi relaas aan recente Europese geschiedenis verteld aan de hand van een aantal kunstwerpen.
August 14, 2023
Enjoyed the history of Russia and some amazing works of art.
I enjoyed all the connections Toby Faber made to Faberge's Eggs and history. The eggs are amazing in their quality and craftmanship. This book shows the power and wealth that supported the creation of great works of art, often on the labors of impoverished artists and craftsman. This applys to the great cathedrals and stone temples as well as crown jewels and jewel encrusted eggs.
I enjoyed all the connections Toby Faber made to Faberge's Eggs and history. The eggs are amazing in their quality and craftmanship. This book shows the power and wealth that supported the creation of great works of art, often on the labors of impoverished artists and craftsman. This applys to the great cathedrals and stone temples as well as crown jewels and jewel encrusted eggs.
January 4, 2018
This was a great book to learn about Faberge eggs and the Romanov dynasty. To me more pictures would have put this book into the five star category. It's nicet to have descriptions but to see the eggs would have been great. I realize not all of the eggs were photographed but the ones in museums have been and it would have added so much to the book.
October 2, 2019
This was absolutely just straight up fun to read! Faber never once becomes pedantic, and his personal reflections on the people involved bring life and meaning to the history of the eggs. It's informative without being boring, but yet rich in biographical details.
June 20, 2022
I suggested this book for our art book club. Of necessity, it's also a deep dive into Russian history. I would have liked to see more pictures & descriptions of the eggs themselves. Imagine the eggs being back in Russia after all these years!
December 13, 2022
An impressive history of the Russian empire, the Soviet era and the story of the Tzar and Tzarinas, written like a crime novel. Teaches you a thing or two about the mindset, values and Norms of the Russian society. Highly recommend.
October 27, 2024
I read this book for an essay to a class from my master and really helped. I got to know a little from Faberge life, the Imperial Russian Family, and a lot of details about the eggs.
A really good book
A really good book
June 4, 2018
I’m not a big art person but this book is a great read.
Enough Russian history in here to make it interesting!
Enough Russian history in here to make it interesting!
July 6, 2021
A great way to get into art history!
November 24, 2021
A lot of interested information about the Faberge eggs. Not only the history of the eggs, but the history of the country.
May 16, 2022
I wanted more pictures of the eggs, after all, the title suggests this book is all about the eggs.
I also skipped large sections of this book.
I also skipped large sections of this book.
March 13, 2019
Another one for the geeks. If flipping though pretty picture books about Faberge Eggs is leaving you hungry for more, read on for this 53-egg omelet.
In painstaking detail, the author tells us about the evolution of these precious eggs, their fates, and the fates of some of the recipients. He speaks of factory conditions, historical parallels, artists getting credit for their own work in turn-of-the century Russia, and the political significance of the eggs.
This book can really put the non in non fiction....it's a slow read; some non fiction books flow more than this one, but eventually, I realized I had to own this one for my bookshelf rather than continue to renew and hog my library's copy.
I've read some other books that mention Faberge eggs, and almost always, Toby Faber is cited as a preeminent source.
Comprehensive but better read in a quiet room with concentration than on in a public space (unless you have a better attention span than me). Enjoy
In painstaking detail, the author tells us about the evolution of these precious eggs, their fates, and the fates of some of the recipients. He speaks of factory conditions, historical parallels, artists getting credit for their own work in turn-of-the century Russia, and the political significance of the eggs.
This book can really put the non in non fiction....it's a slow read; some non fiction books flow more than this one, but eventually, I realized I had to own this one for my bookshelf rather than continue to renew and hog my library's copy.
I've read some other books that mention Faberge eggs, and almost always, Toby Faber is cited as a preeminent source.
Comprehensive but better read in a quiet room with concentration than on in a public space (unless you have a better attention span than me). Enjoy
February 2, 2016
A look at the history of the amazing Faberge Eggs and the Romanov family behind their creation.
The book starts with the origins of the Faberge family and the creation and operation of his workshop and then quickly moves on to delve much more deeply into the history of the Romanov family and how the tradition of the Faberge Easter Eggs got started.
In and out of the authors coverage of the Romanov's there is some discussion of the work that went into the eggs but mostly this book was about the Romanov's and how the eggs fit into their lives.
If I were to have a serious complaint about this book this would be it. While I did learn more about the Faberge family and the eggs than I had ever known before, way, way more time was spend on the Romanov's that I wish had been spent more on the eggs themselves or what went into their creation
My secondary complaint is the lack of color plates of the eggs themselves, it was so frustrating to read descriptions of these wonderful eggs but not be able to see more than a few of them. I do understand how expensive color plates can be and I have no idea how restrictive with the images of the eggs the current owners might be. It was still very frustrating.
My last complaint would be the last few chapters where it just became a listing of who bought them and how and when and while I expect that is interesting to true scholars, I found it tedious.
All that said I did really enjoy this book and looked forward to getting back to reading it when I had to put it down. It was well written, had more details then I had read before about either top but never really felt dry and scholarly (the last few chapters aside) and I got a feel for these historical figures as real people.
This would be a good starting point for anyone interested in either Faberge or the Romanov’s.
The book starts with the origins of the Faberge family and the creation and operation of his workshop and then quickly moves on to delve much more deeply into the history of the Romanov family and how the tradition of the Faberge Easter Eggs got started.
In and out of the authors coverage of the Romanov's there is some discussion of the work that went into the eggs but mostly this book was about the Romanov's and how the eggs fit into their lives.
If I were to have a serious complaint about this book this would be it. While I did learn more about the Faberge family and the eggs than I had ever known before, way, way more time was spend on the Romanov's that I wish had been spent more on the eggs themselves or what went into their creation
My secondary complaint is the lack of color plates of the eggs themselves, it was so frustrating to read descriptions of these wonderful eggs but not be able to see more than a few of them. I do understand how expensive color plates can be and I have no idea how restrictive with the images of the eggs the current owners might be. It was still very frustrating.
My last complaint would be the last few chapters where it just became a listing of who bought them and how and when and while I expect that is interesting to true scholars, I found it tedious.
All that said I did really enjoy this book and looked forward to getting back to reading it when I had to put it down. It was well written, had more details then I had read before about either top but never really felt dry and scholarly (the last few chapters aside) and I got a feel for these historical figures as real people.
This would be a good starting point for anyone interested in either Faberge or the Romanov’s.
April 7, 2017
A fantastic account of some of the most storied art objects of the past century. Faber gives a vivacious account of Faberge's short-lived dynasty as well as well informed accounts of the last Russian Royal Family. Supplemented by numerous letters and first hand account, the final era of the Russian Empire is brought back to life by Faber and the Egg's history that so closely follows is presented in an extremely entertaining and enlightening fashion. Also present are a series of extremely useful appendices. This is a very well put together book.
December 15, 2010
From 1885 to 1917, the Carl Fabergé workshops produced more than 50 hand-crafted fabulous jeweled eggs that were given as Easter gifts to the last two Russian czarinas. Toby Faber tells the story of these eggs, the jewelers who produced them, the dying Romanov regime that commissioned them, what happened to most of the eggs, and how they came to be some of the world's most highly coveted objects in the century following the fall of the czars. (Summary)
Fabergé's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire by Toby Faber contains a lot of Romanov and Russian history, along with the jewel-making story, making this a fascinating read. Along with the solid look at Russian history and the inevitable revolution, there is thoughtful speculation on why Faberge chose to make particular eggs for each czarina. The modern section tracing where the eggs now reside was interesting in its looks at individuals such as Armand Hammer, Matilda Geddings Gray and Malcolm Forbes.
The end data was very useful paticularly the family trees for the Faberge's and The Romanovs and the summary of egg info. I would have preferred to also have a Family Tree of Victoria and the Windsor's, and perhaps even the Danish Royal fmaily tree to keep the various relationships straight. More & larger pictures of existing eggs would also have nmade the book more enjoyable, though the recommended websites are very helpful, particularly the website:
www.mieks.com/Faberge2/index2/htm with descriptions and photos (when available) of each major Faberge egg.
For those interesting in Faberge, jewelry, Russian and Romanov history.
Fabergé's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire by Toby Faber contains a lot of Romanov and Russian history, along with the jewel-making story, making this a fascinating read. Along with the solid look at Russian history and the inevitable revolution, there is thoughtful speculation on why Faberge chose to make particular eggs for each czarina. The modern section tracing where the eggs now reside was interesting in its looks at individuals such as Armand Hammer, Matilda Geddings Gray and Malcolm Forbes.
The end data was very useful paticularly the family trees for the Faberge's and The Romanovs and the summary of egg info. I would have preferred to also have a Family Tree of Victoria and the Windsor's, and perhaps even the Danish Royal fmaily tree to keep the various relationships straight. More & larger pictures of existing eggs would also have nmade the book more enjoyable, though the recommended websites are very helpful, particularly the website:
www.mieks.com/Faberge2/index2/htm with descriptions and photos (when available) of each major Faberge egg.
For those interesting in Faberge, jewelry, Russian and Romanov history.
December 8, 2009
I enjoyed this book, although it took me longer to get through than I thought it would.
I am fascinated by imperial Russian history so I was excited by the idea of a book that traced the downfall of the Romanovs through focusing on their Faberge eggs. It's definitely an intriguing idea, and I always like histories that re-tell well-known stories through new lenses.
With that said, the book was a bit inconsistent, which is why it received only three stars (although I'd give 3.5 if I could). I wish there had been a bit more detail about the czars and czarinas, and I could have done without the chapters on how the eggs made their way into private collections in the west. I did enjoy the final chapters on controversies surrounding the authenticity of some of the eggs and theories about where the missing eggs may be now. I absolutely loved the sumptuous descriptions of the eggs. I was drooling over the description of the jewels and the colors.
I've seen the Faberge egg collection at the Kremlin (which is why I wanted to read this book in the first place) and now I'm inspired to visit some of the museums near my area that have imperial eggs.
I am fascinated by imperial Russian history so I was excited by the idea of a book that traced the downfall of the Romanovs through focusing on their Faberge eggs. It's definitely an intriguing idea, and I always like histories that re-tell well-known stories through new lenses.
With that said, the book was a bit inconsistent, which is why it received only three stars (although I'd give 3.5 if I could). I wish there had been a bit more detail about the czars and czarinas, and I could have done without the chapters on how the eggs made their way into private collections in the west. I did enjoy the final chapters on controversies surrounding the authenticity of some of the eggs and theories about where the missing eggs may be now. I absolutely loved the sumptuous descriptions of the eggs. I was drooling over the description of the jewels and the colors.
I've seen the Faberge egg collection at the Kremlin (which is why I wanted to read this book in the first place) and now I'm inspired to visit some of the museums near my area that have imperial eggs.
April 4, 2011
I've been fascinated in the Imperial Faberge eggs since I first played Shadow Hearts: Covenant. One of the party members is Anastasia Romanov (yes, really) and her weapons are Faberge eggs (yes, really!). I was surprised at how many of them were (however loosely) based on real Imperial eggs. I really enjoyed this book, getting to learn the backstory behind all of these eggs. Most of them are beautiful, some of them are a little gaudy, but all of them are masterfully crafted. The story of the eggs after Revolution is every bit as interesting as their Imperial history, and takes up a good half of the book. The only thing that I didn't like is that the book doesn't really cover every egg. This may be because there's scant information about some of them, or that their symbolism wasn't obvious enough that any comment could be made. It also could have been improved by including more color photographs of the eggs. My copy at least only had images, color or black and white, of a few of the eggs.
August 6, 2011
The most valuable Easter Eggs of all time have out-lived an empire, survived a revolution and fled their motherland in search of better-lined display cases. This is the epic telling of the final days of these symbols of the wealth of the Tsars.
Toby Faber shows how powerful a reputation these treasures have gathered from the time of Faberge until the present day. However, the eggs themselves are god-awfully boring with the exception of their making. Once you get over the cost of it, there’s really very little to say about a knick-knack.
The real draw is the blood, gore and the gusto in which Faber seems to delight in the re-telling. He paints the Tsars meek and the people brutal, which is refreshing. Hearing about how opulent and terrible they were is such communist nonsense, and frankly tiresome. This book is a wonderful slice of White Russia that any aspiring oligarch should have read to them, of course.
Over all an entertaining read with plenty of nonsense and gossip thrown in to counter the boring bits.
Amanda Patterson & Christopher Dean
Toby Faber shows how powerful a reputation these treasures have gathered from the time of Faberge until the present day. However, the eggs themselves are god-awfully boring with the exception of their making. Once you get over the cost of it, there’s really very little to say about a knick-knack.
The real draw is the blood, gore and the gusto in which Faber seems to delight in the re-telling. He paints the Tsars meek and the people brutal, which is refreshing. Hearing about how opulent and terrible they were is such communist nonsense, and frankly tiresome. This book is a wonderful slice of White Russia that any aspiring oligarch should have read to them, of course.
Over all an entertaining read with plenty of nonsense and gossip thrown in to counter the boring bits.
Amanda Patterson & Christopher Dean
April 28, 2012
Toby Faber does a spectacular job of detailing the history of these eggs, from the circumstances that led to their creation and the times they were created in, their journey as gifts to where they ultimately end up by the book's conclusion. His language is forthright and but it's more than this -- from time to time he amuses with a startling insight on the character of the people involved, such as the unscrupulous Armand Hammer, the frosty Empress Alexandra who is often at odds with the dowager Empress Marie, the eccentric Carl Faberge and the fate of his sons in post-revolutionary Russia, to Malcolm Forbes and others in between.
I picked up this book to do research in preparation for writing a novel and was pleased to discover it was well researched -- and I also appreciate that Faber never makes a sensationalized account of what happened to the Romanov's, which tends to be the norm with books touching on the last years of Imperial Russia. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip it took me on, a case of where fact actually trumps fiction in the strange department.
I picked up this book to do research in preparation for writing a novel and was pleased to discover it was well researched -- and I also appreciate that Faber never makes a sensationalized account of what happened to the Romanov's, which tends to be the norm with books touching on the last years of Imperial Russia. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip it took me on, a case of where fact actually trumps fiction in the strange department.
May 25, 2010
This was a great comprehensive look at Faberge’s life, his work, and his relationship with the Russian Imperial Family. After Alexander III first began the tradition of giving a Faberge egg to his wife every Easter, Faberge’s skill and attention to detail flourished each year. Upon Alexander’s death, his son Nicholas II would continue the custom, commissioning elaborate eggs for both his mother and his wife. Faber’s book details many of these imperial eggs, and traces their histories through the revolution, through the century, and around the world. This book also illustrates the decadence of pre-revolutionary czarist Russia. Faberge’s workshops created the most ornate and sought-after jewelry and trinkets in the world until WWI and the communist uprising devastated any market for such frivolities. Regardless, Faberge’s eggs were impressive creations, each unique and spectacular in their craftsmanship and originality.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews