First, I would like to thank everyone for their inteest in my article, and in the works of Karl Faberge.
First, I would like to address the comment by JDA which is absolutely correct. My article should read that the egg was delivered to "The Grand Duke Vladimir's Palace", and not to the Grand Duke himself, who was indeed deceased in 1917.
Second, as Platon mentioned, it is true, the Forbes children have very different collecting interests. Kip forbes collects artworks and memorabilia pertaining to the court of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, while his brother Steve Forbes is an avid collector of Presidential papers.
Finally, to JD; the earliest eggs were, in fact, egg sized, but many of the eggs are much larger. The range in size from about 4 inches to as much as 10 or 11 inches in overall height. Of the Imperial Eggs, the most massive is certainly the Uspensky Cathedral Egg in the collection of the Kremlin, and the smallest is the First Imperial Egg in the Forbes collection.
The reasons for the sale are unclear though the means of the sale is not. Malcolm Forbes always said that if the eggs were ever to be sold, he wanted them sold at auction. The family is certainly complying with his wish.
There is speculation for the reasons. It was reported in the NY TImes that Forbes magazine Advertising is down by 50% in the past two years, and many feel that Steve Forbes run for the presidency may have contributed to the fiscal strain which makes this deaccessioning advisable.
I certainly hope that all the best pieces go to public collections where they may be admired as easily as they were at the Forbes Collection in New York.
Best, Nick Nicholson
