fake/spurious "Faberge" and "Imperial" items

[Forum Admin]

John Atzbach is a highly reputable, genuine and reliable dealer. We have purchased from him, and consider him a friend.  You may buy from him with confidence, in our opinion based on our experience.

[Katharine]

Excellent, I really can't thank you enough for all your help

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Hello, Katharine!  Sounds as if you are on the right track in your decision making.  As I said earlier, I have personally seen the original "Military Egg," and while is a bit larger than I expected (the Faberge Imperial eggs got bigger as the years went on), it was not a "show-stopper" as were several other original eggs that were on loan/display.  In that particular exhibition (San Diego, California), these original eggs were presented chronologically, and thus it was near the end of the "glitz," with people being overwhelmed by that time.   In fact, the crowd generally gave it a somewhat perfunctory look to go on others and exit the exhibition.  Again, best wishes on your reading and collecting!    AP

[Alixz]

aleksandr pavlovich -since the eggs were in chronological order, I can see why the crowd would pass that one with hardly a glance.

However as we all know the thinking behind the design and the circumstances in the world at the time of its creation, I see it as a triumph of Faberge's genius.  He could have gone on in the style of glitz and glamour, but this one, to me is just a plain statement of the seriousness of the war and the political situation at the time.

The only thing that bothers me about the eggs after Alexandra became Empress is that I have read that she would send her requirements to Faberge for the designs and also the price point.  I just got three new books on Faberge eggs, and I don't remember which one said that, but I will look for the source.  The author pointed out that while, Faberge often followed her instructions as to the design, sometimes he would not, but that he would most often stick to her price point.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

To:  Alixz        Yes, quite right, Alixz.  Faberge and Company did recognize/react to the impact of the war and austerity.  There were items produced by the company then, of which the public remains generally unaware.  Utilitarian objects such as cigarette cases were made in copper/brass, totally unadorned, except for the simplest of Imperial Eagles and the Russian word, "WAR," with the date 1914.  One of the most unusual items produced in that time frame is pictured as illustration 217., page 220, in the catalogue of the exhibition "Faberge in America" by Geza von Habsburg.  I attended one of its exhilition sites, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, in Richmond, Va., in 1996 twice, and for the life of me, I can't remember seeing it!  One of those things that the mind suddenly goes into "neutral." and coasts by, I guess.  To quote the accompanying description to the above mentioned illustration:  "Cooking Pot and Cover, copper and brass, height 5 inches."   "This cooking pot illustrates the effect of austerity measures on the Faberge workshops during World War I.  Such pots were known to have been used by wealthy patrons to send soup to their children on the front."  This particular example was lent by courtesy of A La Vielle Russie, New York.  I don't think that I have ever seen one of these for sale. Genuine, but items that many would question their authenticity because of being so unusual, not quite "keeping in character!"   AP

[aleksandr pavlovich]

To:  Alixz        Yes, quite right, Alixz.  Faberge and Company did recognize/react to the impact of the war and austerity.  There were items produced by the company then, of which the public remains generally unaware.  Utilitarian objects such as cigarette cases were made in copper/brass, totally unadorned, except for the simplest of Imperial Eagles and the Russian word, "WAR," with the date 1914.  One of the most unusual items produced in that time frame is pictured as illustration 217., page 220, in the catalogue of the exhibition "Faberge in America" by Geza von Habsburg.  I attended one of its exhilition sites, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, in Richmond, Va., in 1996 twice, and for the life of me, I can't remember seeing it!  One of those things that the mind suddenly goes into "neutral." and coasts by, I guess.  To quote the accompanying description to the above mentioned illustration:  "Cooking Pot and Cover, copper and brass, height 5 inches."   "This cooking pot illustrates the effect of austerity measures on the Faberge workshops during World War I.  Such pots were known to have been used by wealthy patrons to send soup to their children on the front."  This particular example was lent by courtesy of A La Vielle Russie, New York.  I don't think that I have ever seen one of these for sale.  Genuine, but items of which many observers would potentially question their authenticity without research, because of being so unusual.......... not quite "keeping in character!"   AP

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Re:  Duplicate posting   Reply 79/80    To:  Alixz, et al.,  My apologies for the above double posting!  My computer seems to have a mind of its own!  AP

[Alexander_IV]

Hey,

I just returned from a trip to Vienna and on our first day there we were walking through the Freyung Passage where there was a little antique shop with a Fabergé egg in display. The pricetag was about 25.000 euro (about 35.000 $).
Is it possible that it was a real Fabergé egg? I always thought there were only about 70 of them made so I was a little surprised when I found it there just lying in an antique shop etalage and for such a low price (relatively :p). On top of that, it was quite sober. About 10 cm high, green-ish without any gold, silver, ornaments or anything.
Unfortunately, we didn't have the camera with us so I wasn't able to make a picture

Edit: I read up a bit and now realise that they're still making Fabergé eggs but still, I'm wondering if it's real since it was just an egg without any jewelry to it.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Hello, Alexander_ IV !  While markings can, and are being faked every day, do you recall ANY markings at all on this item?  I am certainly no expert and could not render a reasonable personal impression/opinion without seeing or knowing more about the item.  A couple of questions, if I may:  At that size, I presume that the egg DID open; thus did it open vertically or length-wise?  Was it enameled (?)"greenish" all over with no pattern under the enamel?  Did you ask the dealer WHY he knew it was "Faberge"? (Of course, there will ALWAYS be a story, of some sort............... .)    Best regards, and I hope that you enjoyed your trip to Vienna!    AP

[Alexander_IV]

Hey aleksandr pavlovich,

Since the shop was closed (it was late in the evening) I wasn't able to look at it closely or speak to the shop owner. I just saw it behind the window
It looked a bit like this green: http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/1899-Pansy-Egg.htm
I didn't see any sign/line which could indicate that it could open though.

But I've read up a bit on the Fabergé eggs and found out there are/were many more made than I originally thought so I guess it isn't all that impossible for it to be real.
If anyone here lives in Vienna and happens to pass by, the shop was situated near the beginning of the passage on the left (when you enter through the front entrance) :p

And we certainly enjoyed the trip
It's one of the most beautiful and impressive cities I've seen. I think for me personally, only St-Petersburg could top that, but I've never been there yet

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Hello, Alexander_IV!   Many thanks for the reply!  Obviously there's not much we can speculate about concerning the egg, unless we know more, sorry.  But, hey! It does give you an excuse to go back to Vienna, if you need one!    Nephrite (if it were such/or jadeite) can be finely worked to the extent that it would be hard to see a dividing line (unless it interrupted an inclusion's outline) until viewed at close range.  So, in the final analysis, who knows?  Perhaps you can always fondly remember it as "your Faberge egg in Vienna !"      By the way, if you DO get a chance to go to Saint Petersburg, GO!  It is a fabulous, colorfully historic city and I have always enjoyed my time there.      With best regards,  AP.

[Alexander_IV]

Yeah, I'm quite sure I'll go back to Vienna a few times in the future since I haven't seen half of what I wanted to see

And about St-Petersburg: I do at least 1 city-trip each year but the problem about Russia is that I'm not a fan of big group travels at all and the stories I keep hearing about Russia (even from Russian people) deter us to go on our own or with a few friends without learning Russian first. So I'm not sure yet what to do. But I will definately go soon, even if it means following the big group thing.

OT: thx for the info
I realise I didn't have much information to start with but as you said, maybe it's more fun thinking that it could have been a real one instead of knowing it's a fake

[Douglas]

Genuine Faberge on EBay ?!?....the very thought of it makes me laugh.  Too funny. I can just see some society lady telling her friend she buys  her 'Faberge'  ....where?.  "Why,  I bought it on EBay, dahling."  Yeah  right.

I saw the Faberge  Imperial Easter Eggs at the Museum in San Diego, California  some years ago.  Great to see them but I was very surprised that most of them were covered in ordinary dust [or remnants of the box lining].. 

Why didn't the curator of the museum dust the eggs  before putting them on display?  How about at least removing the obvious dust?  Very strange.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Hello, Douglas!    By coincidence, I was scanning EBay under "Faberge" (as I often do), just the other evening.  Grotesque!  Over the years,  maybe----maybee .........  just maybeeeeeeee,  I have seen a couple of items that I felt COULD be the genuine article/s and they were seemingly knowledgeably priced (not the Bulgarian pricing!).  I feel badly for the individuals that purchase such fakes (?, perhaps a "set-up purchase" by a crony?).  The Golden Advice:  ALWAYS buy from a reputable dealer!  Yes, there definitely are some; they have been mentioned before on this forum------and expect to pay accordingly, but you can be satisfied it's the real thing.  I have travelled to many places, here and abroad, and have seen most of the notable Eggs.  I did see the San Diego Exhibition twice at the Art Museum, with eggs from Forbes, Windsor Castle, the Kremlin, etc., but thought they appeared well-cared for.  Perhaps they had been attended to in a exhibition day's maintenance break before I saw them?  I remember that the spotlights on the free-standing cases seemed quite bright by contrast.  I have DEFINITELY seen dust on some items in at least one other relatively local (state-loan) Faberge exhibition.  Amazingly, the most dust was on what was actually a "FAUXBERGE" item!   "Dust to dust...."      Best wishes, AP.

[Douglas]

Greetings Aleksandr:

Yes, you are very correct. It was the very bright pin  lights on most of the eggs that revealed the dust and dirt.....particularly the red one and  several others.

Oh well, I suppose the curitorial staff figured that this was just one more exhibit and was waiting to move on to the next one.  Imperial Faberge eggs ??...."no big deal".

I wanted to get out my feather duster and give them a good going over.