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Faberge's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire | 
 enlarge | Author: Toby Faber
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $30.00
Buy New: $14.88
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Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 65569
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 140006550X
Dewey Decimal Number: 739.2092
EAN: 9781400065509
ASIN: 140006550X
Publication Date: October 7, 2008
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Product Description
In Stradivari’s Genius, Toby Faber charted the fascinating course of some of the world’s most prized musical instruments. Now, in this enthralling new book, he tells the story of objects that are, to many, the pinnacle of the jeweler’s art: the Faberge imperial eggs.
The Easter presents that Russia’s last two czars gave to their czarinas have become synonymous with privilege, beauty, and an almost provocative uselessness. They are perhaps the most redolent symbols of the old empire’s phenomenal craftsmanship, of the decadence of its court, and of the upheavals that brought about its inevitable downfall. Faberge’s Eggs is the first book to recount the remarkable story of these masterpieces, taking us from the circumstances that inspired each egg’s design, through their disappearance in the trauma of revolution, to their eventual reemergence in the global marketplace.
In 1885, Carl Faberge created a seemingly plain white egg for Czar Alexander III to give to his beloved wife, Marie Fedorovna. It was the surprises hidden inside that made it special: a diamond miniature of the Imperial crown and a ruby pendant. This gift began a tradition that would last for more than three decades: lavishly extravagant eggs commemorating public events that, in retrospect, seem little more than staging posts on the march to revolution. Above all, the eggs illustrate the attitudes that would ultimately lead to the downfall of the Romanovs: their apparent indifference to the poverty that choked their country, their preference for style over substance, and, during the reign of Nicholas II, their all-consuming concern with the health of the czarevitch Alexis, the sickly heir to the throne–a preoccupation that would propel them toward Rasputin and the doom of the dynasty.
More than a superb new account of a classic tragedy, Faberge’s Eggs illuminates some fascinating aspects of twentieth-century history. The eggs’ amazing journey from revolutionary Russia features a cast of characters including embattled Bolsheviks, acquisitive British royals, eccentric artifact salesmen, and such famous business and society figures as Arm and Hammer, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and Malcolm Forbes. Finally, Toby Faber tantalizingly suggests that some of the eggs long thought lost may eventually emerge.
Darting from the palaces of a besieged Russia to the showcases of New York’s modern mega-wealthy, Faberge’s Eggs weaves a story unparalleled in its drama and extravagance.
Praise for Stradivari’s Genius
“Fascinating . . . lively . . . more enthralling, earthy and illuminating than any fiction could be.”
–The New York Times Book Review
“A celebration of six instruments and the master craftsman who made them . . . [Faber] brings to the subject an infectious fascination with Stradivari’s life and trade. . . . He writes with clarity and fluency.”
–Chicago Tribune
“An extraordinary accomplishment and a compelling read. Like strange totems that cast an irresistible spell, these instruments bring out the best and the worst of those who would own them, and Faber deftly tells the stories in all their rich and surprising detail.”
–Thad Carhart, author of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank
“A worthy contribution to the ongoing legend of Stradivari.”
–Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Fascinating, accessible, and enjoyable.”
–Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring
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| Customer Reviews:
 Eggs December 24, 2008
I thought it'd be more of a table book with more pictures. My bad.
 Superb! Excellent Resource November 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a collector of the books and eggs of this period. This book is an excellent resource of information. I truly enjoy perusing through this book. I highly recommend it!
Not Just Fancy Jewelry October 29, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
There are many books (and even some websites) devoted to pictures of the jeweled eggs produced by Faberge for the last two czars of Russia to give to their czarinas on Easter. _Faberge's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces that Outlived an Empire_ (Random House) by Toby Faber is not like those. Sure, it has photos, but only of some of the fifty eggs that were so given. The point of Faber's fascinating book is not the sparkle of these splendid, somewhat preposterous baubles, but the history behind them. He has, in many cases, told the stories of individual eggs and positioned them within the history of the last years of the Russian Empire, and then followed them from after the revolution until the current day. This, then, is a history book with a wide scope, using the eggs as a mere foundation for bigger themes. It is full of remarkable stories from the royal family as well as from the colorful subsequent owners of the eggs, and Faber, who wrote about the violins of _Stradivari's Genius_ a few years ago, has told the stories in a lively way to interconnect a lot of historical strands.
When Czar Alexander III came to Faberge before Easter in 1881, he wanted a present for his wife, the Empress Maria. The first egg of the series was the Hen Egg, based on the design of an egg in the Royal Danish Collection, and since Maria was from Denmark, it would have reminded her of her happy childhood there. The eggs became an annual tradition thereafter, and each year Faberge had more freedom about how to execute the commission. When Alexander died only aged 49 in 1894, Faberge might have worried that the new czar Nicholas II would not have the same taste or desires, but Nicholas proved to be unwilling to change anything much (a characteristic that Faber shows played a role in his doom), and continued the tradition, with Easter eggs going not just to Maria his mother but to Alexandra his new wife. The eggs often reflected historical landmarks or anniversaries. The Trans-Siberian Railway Egg of 1900 commemorating the newly completed railway. Faberge knew that he could please Alexandra with depictions of her children; the famous Lilies of the Valley Egg of 1898 had a surprise of pop-out portraits of her husband and daughters. Faber demonstrates that the eggs could represent the alienation of the royals from the world around them. He contrasts these expensive and beautiful toys with the lot of the Russian people and increases our understanding of the revolution that brought the family down in 1918, and the eggs were available for sale abroad to benefit the new Soviet state. The most famous collector was Malcolm Forbes, who determined that he would buy up so many of the eggs he would have more than were left in the Kremlin vaults. He thought he had succeeded, too, with eleven eggs to the Kremlin's ten in 1985, but increased interest in the eggs (and a Forbes-inspired boom in their prices, which lasted after his death in 1990) meant that scholars went to work on tracking down exact listings of their history. Forbes's cache was entirely Faberge eggs of the period, but only nine were actual gifts from a czar. In 2004, a Russian tycoon bought Forbes's eggs to go back into the Kremlin Armory Museum.
The eggs now get lent out for displays, and for Russians can symbolize a romanticized, glorious past that the Communists wanted them all to forget. It is a past which still takes hold of people's imaginations, although the past was actually inglorious. As Faber points out, though, there is a symmetry of the eggs ordered by the super-rich czar, now brought back to Russia by the czar's super-rich oligarch successors. This is a fine history that tells a great deal more about characters and events than it does about mere ostentatious and whimsical jewelry.
 Fabrage Eggs in Fiction October 27, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I've always had a facination for Faberge's Eggs and was so pleased to have the opportunity to read this enlightening book. I also want to pass along to other Faberge enthusiants a novel that delves deeply into the history of Faberge Eggs. "The Deal" by Adam Gittlin is an international thriller that postions Fabrege Eggs in a plot that is complex, intelligent and absorbing.
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