Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution

Sumptuous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the Russian jeweller Faberge with a focus on his English shop and clients.

I was pleased that I’d listened to a live curators talk on the show before I went as it was quite busy and hard to read some of the commentaries. You quickly didn’t care that much about the narrative as the objects were so stunning but I was glad I had some outline of what was happening in my head.

Although the focus was on London the background was set up well with a section on work for the Russian Royal Family. This was followed one on the craftsmanship divided into different materials and techniques and looking at the different family workshops that were used. This was well illustrated with design drawings.

I loved the section on the London shop and the English clientele. The show outlined various Edwardian characters with examples of the work they bought or were given. I loved the woman who gave her lover a cigarette case every New Year marking events in the previous year and looking ahead at things planned for the year ahead. All 15 cases were in the show.

It was a lovely touch to include two of the grenades made by the company during the First World War and a simple but beautiful cooking pot from the same era. However rather than end of this low point the final room brought together a selection of the Russian Imperial Easter eggs beautifully displayed so you could see them from all sides.

However I found that the works I liked most were plainer more simple looking ones such as the figure shown here made of different stones like a 3D mosaic and tiny green travelling ash tray.

Closes 8 May 2022.

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