Beyond Faberge: Imperial Russian Jewelry

A rare look at the exquisite world of Russian treasures that lies beyond Faberge. Imperial Russia evokes images of a vanished court’s unparalleled splendour: magnificent tiaras, gem-encrusted necklaces, snuff boxes, and other diamond-studded baubles of the tsars and tsarinas. During that time, jewellery symbolised power and wealth, and no one knew this better than the Romanovs. The era marked the high point of the Russian jewellers’ art. Beginning with Catherine I’s reign in 1725, in the century when women ruled Russia, until the Russian Revolution of 1917, the imperial capital’s goldsmiths perfected their craft, and soon the quality of Russia’s jewelry equaled, if not surpassed, the best that Europe’s capitals could offer. Who created these jewels that helped make the Russian court the richest in Europe? Hint: it wasn’t Carl Faberge. This is the first systematic survey in any language of all the leading jewellers and silver masters of imperial Russia. The authors skillfully unfold for us the lives, histories, creations, and makers’ marks of the artisans whose jewels and silver masterworks bedazzled the tsars. The previously unheralded names include Pauzie, Bolin, Hahn, Koechli, Seftigen, Marshak, Morozov, Nicholls & Plincke, Grachev, Sazikov, and many others. The market for these exquisite masterworks is also explored, from its beginnings to today’s auction world and collector demand. More than 600 stunning photos reacquaint the world with the master artisans and their creations. AUTHORS: Marie Betteley is a jewelry dealer, gemologist, lecturer, and leading authority on Russian jewels and decorative arts.
David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye is professor of Russian history at Brock University, Ontario, and a fellow of the Russian Society of Canada.
600 colour and b/w photographs