Faberge Workmasters
In 1872 Carl Fabergé took over his father’s company and in a few years turned the family business into the most famed and distinguished silver and jewellery brand.
In 1885 he was appointed as Imperial Goldsmith and Jeweller. In the same year he was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III to create the first Imperial Easter Egg as a gift for his wife Maria Feodorovna. The firm soon became the most popular supplier of gifts for the Imperial family and for Royal families including the British one. Fabergé artworks are still celebrated today, a hundred years after the forced closure of the company.
This legendary success would not have been possible without the creative talent of Fabergé’s workmasters. The workmasters were in charge of selected groups of talented craftsmen and were responsible for the most important objects, developing their own characteristic styles and using their own mark on the artworks, next to the Fabergé mark. Altogether, there have been more than 40 workmasters working for Fabergé. We would like to list some of the most famous ones:
Michael Perkhin:
Head of the Fabergé workshops from 1886 until his death in 1903; supervised the creation of about half of the Imperial Easter Eggs. Under his supervision, the firm produced its most innovative objects of vertu, making a distinctive use of gold, enamel and hard stones to create elegant and innovative masterpieces, in a wide range of styles from Rococo to Renaissance revival.
Henrik Wigstrom:
After Perkhin’s death he took over his workshop and became head workmaster for Fabergé. Half of the Imperial Fabergé eggs, the majority of miniature animals and flowers, boxes and cigarette cases produced by the firm between 1904 and 1917 carry his mark. He was responsible for some of the firm’s finest treasures in Louis XVI and neoclassical style.
Albert Holmstrom:
Under his direction the workshop produced two of Faberge’s finest artworks: the Imperial Winter Egg in 1913 (private collection) and the Imperial Mosaic Egg in 1914, today part of the British Royal Collection.
Feodor Ruckert:
Ruckert produced exceptional quality enamel on filigree artworks combining traditional Russian themes with new Art Nouveau elements and motifs.
Julius Rappoport:
From 1884 he became the most important supplier of silver items for Fabergé based in St. Petersburg. His small naturalistic animal figures are particularly sought after, but he also produced massive centrepieces for the Imperial family and for royal families abroad.
