Hardstone Flowers

Although Fabergé is most remembered for the creation of the magnificent Imperial Easter Eggs, his artisans created a multitude of items including clocks, jewelry, hard stone figurines, picture frames, cigarette cases, silver, and delicate, miniature flowers and fruits often presented in rock crystal vases.

The growing season in the cold northern latitudes of Russia was brief yet abundant. It is no surprise that after a bleak, snowy and monochromatic winter the Russian people embraced the summer season and shared a love of nature and in particular a love of flowering plants that offered a variety of color and texture. Theophile Gautier, nineteenth century French poet and novelist, stated, “Flowers, a true Russian luxury”. While Gautier was referring to real flowers in his comment, the words could just as easily have been describing Fabergé’s miniature flowers reproductions. These true to life pieces were a favorite of Empress Maria Feodorovna, patroness of Fabergé. Although Danish by birth, she adopted Russia as her land and the Russians as her people and shared in their many customs and traditions. Her love of flowers was just one of these commonalities. Naturally, she purchased a number of these objets d’art at a cost of up to 500 rubles (approx. $4200.). But, more importantly, she introduced other family members to these delicate works of art thus creating a strong market. Her sister, Queen Alexandra of England, was also an enthusiastic collector, as were the Marchioness of Ripon, Lady Sackville and the Queen’s own daughter Victoria. Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, the wife of the brother to Tsar Alexander III, held the largest collection of flowers which numbered thirty-four (of the known 80 to have been executed) at the onset of the October Revolution. The variety of flowers was extensive and included buttercups, currants, raspberries, hawthorn, narcissus, sweet pea, catkin, bleeding hearts, violets and forget-me-nots. Two of the most elaborate flowers were the “Mechanical Pansy” (also known as “Cupid’s Delight”) and the dandelion. The former was a tenth anniversary gift of Tsar Nicholas II to his wife Alexandra. The five delicate petals painted in dusty hues of yellow, blue and magenta could be opened with a twist of a small knob located on the stem to unveil the miniature portraits of their five children surrounded by diamonds. The dandelion was the only Faberge flower that used a part of the actual plant in its execution. Faberge master craftsman, Franz Birbaum, wrote this about the dandelion in his memoirs:

“Natural down being attached to gold hair-like lengths of wire with tiny brilliants: the sparking spots of diamonds among the white fluff produced a wonderful effect and saved these artificial flowers from unduly close imitation of nature. The artistic image was preserved so that these objects did not imitate nature too closely.”

The process by which these items came into being followed a prescribed system. The first step was for master goldsmith Henrik Wigstrom to create flower studies, or drawings, that showed in the minutest detail a proposal for a possible flower. This was sent to Carl Faberge who would review the drawings with his collaborators and decide which were to be produced. Faberge’s directives were sent back to Wigstrom who then spoke with his head goldsmith regarding the technical details of what needed to be accomplished, trying to anticipate potential problems. Wigstrom then met with his team of stone-carvers, choosing the pieces of hard stone and sending them to Faberge for his approval. Next, the stone-carvers did their work, followed by the metal workers, then on to the enameller if any painting was required and finally on to jewelers who would set gemstones, if required and give the item a final polish.

The variety of materials that went into the creation of these flowers was as diverse as the types of flowers themselves. Transparent rock crystal was used in the creation of the vases. Stone quartz was used in making white petals. Red flowers and petals who be represented by rhodonite from the Ural Mountains. Pearls, turquoise, amethysts were all used in making the delicate petals of different flowers. The plant’s foliage was crafted of Siberian nephrite found near Lake Baikal. Gold was the material of choice for stems, thorns, pistils and anthers. And, of course, there were diamonds and garnets to add luster.

Their beauty was admired throughout the years in some of the grand salons of European royalty and at some of the times of greatest happiness such as birthdays and anniversaries and at times of great sadness and despair. Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the present Queen Elizabeth II, remained in London with her husband the King during raids throughout the Second World War. She is quoted as having said of her Cornflower and Oat Spray that stood on her writing desk in the Shelter Room, “However awful the moment, it was so enchanting to see this charming and so beautifully unwarlike plant starting to tremble when most horrible things were approaching.”