27 January 2012

Royals!

 Loelia, Duchess of Westminster, wearing an impressive halo tiara.

 Loelia, Duchess of Westminster

Empress Josephine, consort to the Emperor Napoleon I 

Empress Marie Louise, second wife of Napoleon I

Another painting the Empress Marie Louise of France, wearing an exceptionally large  diamond and gold tiara.

A photograph of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, consort to Nicholas II, in a Faberge gold and enamel picture frame.

An early portrait of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, where she is seen wearing a  large diamond spike kokoshnik tiara.

A Faberge enamel heart frame with a miniature of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. She was known as the  Mother of Russia. She died in Denmark in 1928.

The Grand Duchess Yelisaveta Feodorovna, or Ella as she was known. She was executed during the Russian Revolution. Her body was posthumously buried in Jerusalem.

Princess Anne, the Princess Royal of Great Britain, wearing the tiara of her grandmother, Princess Andrew (Alice) of Greece. Princess Alice was the daughter of Princess Victoria of Hesse, a sister of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia and the Grand Duchess Ella of Russia.

Queen Elisabeth of Belgium wearing her tiara low on the brow, as was the style in the 1920's

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother wearing the oriental circlet of Queen Victoria. The original tiara contained opals, but when it was passed on to Queen Alexandra, she had the opals replaced with rubies, as opals are bad luck for women to wear.

Queen Marie of Rumania, wearing a tiara that formerly belonged to the Grand Duchess Ella and the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the younger.

A young capture of Queen Victoria, wearing a small diamond and sapphire tiara at the back of her head, in a painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

Serena, the Viscountess Linley, wearing a tiara designed by Linley Furniture, her husband the Viscount Linley's store. This photograph was taken by her father-in-law, Lord Snowdon, ex-husband of the Princess Margaret.

24 January 2012

Fabergé Trinkets

 A Faberge cape clasp made from gold, enamel, and cabochon gemstones.

 A green jade Faberge desk clock, complete with a decorate floral spray of diamonds, pearls, gold, silver, and a cabochon ruby.

 A Faberge ring of a large button pearl, surrounded by diamonds in an antiqued, blackened setting.

A Faberge picture frame containing a photograph of Tsar Nikolai II's third daughter, the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna. 

 An enamel and diamond snuff or trinket box, which was made to match the Coronation Egg, the most fascinating and valuable of all the Faberge Imperial Easter Eggs. The monogram in the middle of the box is a Cyrillic "N" for Nikolai II.

 A gold and pearl mesh picture frame containing a washed-out photograph of Tsar Nikolai II.

 A Faberge bracelet, pave'd in turquoise, edged in diamonds, with natural pearls suggesting an open clam shell design.

A snuff box with the monogram of either Catherine (Yekaterina) the Great or the Empress Yelisaveta of Russia.

Fabergé Floral Bouquets

 A Faberge bouquet in a vase of rock crystal, with a large, green peridot flower as the central element.

 A beautiful Faberge flower bouquet, containing many egg charms instead of flowers.

A Faberge floral decoration in a vase of rock crystal, which opens to reveal portraits of Tsar Nikolai II and Tsarina Alexandra's 5 children, the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, and the Grand Duke Alexei.

21 January 2012

Fabergé's Easter Eggs



A Cyrillic "Ch" and "V", which stands for something which translates as "Christ has risen," which is a fitting phrase for an Easter Egg.

Three pendants, the first of a gold chicken with a small enameled egg dangling from its mouth, and the second two of finely enameled red and blue eggs.


Less grand versions of the Imperial Easter eggs, where this one uses only enamels.

 An Imperial Easter Egg by Faberge, which opens to reveal the pink enameled heart statue at the left.


The Danish elephant, alluding to Empress Maria Fedorovna's Danish heritage.


 An Imperial Easter egg which opens to reveal a gold and enamel model of a ship.

 The most impressive Imperial Easter Egg, the Coronation Egg of Tsar Nicholas II, formerly in the Forbes Collection. It sold at auction about a decade ago for an astonishing $25 million.

 The Hen Egg - Presented by Tsar Alexander III to his wife the Empress Maria Feodorovna at Easter 1885

 A heart which opens to reveal miniature portraits of Tsarina Alexandra, Tsar Nikolai II, and their first child, the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolayevich.

 A group of 4 small Faberge egg pendants.

 A lilac enamel and gold pendant, in an egg-y shape...


The Fifteenth Anniversary Egg - Presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his wife the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna at Easter 1911.


The Orange Tree Egg - Presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his mother the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna at Easter 1911.

The Order of St George Egg - Presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his mother the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna at Easter 1916.

Fabergé Brooches, Part III

The Russian firm, Faberge, made beautiful brooches, which now are incredibly collectible and valuable. Faberge were masters at enamelwork, especially the techniques of guilloche and moire enamels.

 A beautiful chartreuse green enamel brooch bordered in seed pearls with three diamond bows and a golden garland.

 A very Faberge piece, made with translucent guilloche blue enamel and diamonds.

 Another piece with a bright blue enamel and gold and diamonds.

 A delicate Faberge bar brooch, with a center cabochon chalcedony and diamonds.

 A mosaic brooch, very similar to the mosaic Faberge Imperial Easter Egg in the possession of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

 A brooch in the form of a picture frame. The center stone is moss agate, which gives the appearance of a landscape of trees.

 A triangle brooch, with a center rainbow opal, thickly edged in diamonds.

 An art deco brooch, with rainbow circles, a diamond in the center of each.

 During the first world war, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, in addition to the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger, and others, worked as nurses to help with the war effort. This brooch undoubtedly was commissioned by a member of the imperial family to wear with their nurse uniforms.

An imperial brooch, a sketch by Faberge, which is made from sapphires and diamonds. Its design matches a tiara of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna's, also made by Faberge.