Exhibitions

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Fabergé Silver and Sandstone Elephant
(Courtesy A La Vieille Russie, New York)

Exhibitions & Museums
(Updated March 2024 | Checking exhibition status in advance is advised.)

  • Athens, Georgia. Georgia Museum of Art – Seven Fabergé objects are included in this academic and official art museum of the state of Georgia (USA).

  • Baltimore, Maryland. Walters Art Museum – The two Imperial Fabergé eggs in their collection are the 1901 Gatchina Palace Egg and the 1907 Rose Trellis Egg. Monograph by Margaret Kelly Trombly, et al. Fabergé and the Russian Crafts Tradition: An Empire’s Legacy for a 2017-18 exhibition was published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

  • Brighton, United Kingdom. Brighton Museum & Art Gallery – Finding Fabergé, and the story of “Fabergé Mystery at the Brighton Museum” introduce the collection.  

  • Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland Museum of Art – The museum’s website and fascinating details about the original collector are alive on a revised website with 77 Fabergé objects featuring the India Early Minshall Collection with the 1915 Red Cross Triptych Egg. The 1967 catalogue raisonné for the Minshall Fabergé collection (one of the four women collectors in the United States in the 1930-40’s later willed to museums) by Henry Hawley, Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, is on line. The Ingalls Library & Art Museum Archives offer their holdings in full text, archives, clipping files, and auction catalogs.

  • Copenhagen, Denmark. Amalienborg Palace Museum – On display in the Fabergé Chamber is Russian jewelry from 1860-1917, and the Fabergé silver-gilt champagne cooler, a present from the Russian Imperial couple, Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna, on the occasion of King Christian IX and Queen Louise’s golden wedding anniversary in 1892. Martin Hans Borg, chief specialist in Russian art at the Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen, describes his visit in Join Our Specialist in the Treasury of Amalienborg Palace! To truly appreciate the size of this cooler, see Carole Warner’s article, “Danish Royal 50th Wedding Anniversary Kovsh”, Fabergé Research Newsletter, Winter 2013-2014, and “Anniversary Gifts in the Danish Royal Collection” by Roy Tomlin, Fabergé Research Newsletter, Spring 2015.

  • Near Dorking in Surrey, England. Polesden Lacey (Edwardian house and estate, owned and operated by the National Trust since 1942) – The recent venue is illustrated in “Objets de Fantaisie: Fabergé and Cartier“. Mrs. Maggie Greville made purchases from the London Fabergé branch of no fewer than 31 items, including a carving of Caesar, King Edward VII’s wire fox terrier, which she gave to Queen Alexandra after the King’s death. (2008 Publication about the Estate, Courtesy John Jenkins, UK).

  • Houston, Texas. Houston Museum of Natural Science – UPDATE! The McFerrin Collection venue Everyday Fabergé closes on July 7, 2024, and re-opens with a new selection of objects and a theme on September 27, 2024. The entire collection of more than 600 Fabergé and Russian objects is ‘the largest private collection in the world’ with three Fabergé Easter Eggs: 1892 Diamond Trellis Egg, 1902 Kelch Rocaille Egg, and 1913 Nobel Ice Egg. Several publications reveal the depth and breadth of the McFerrin Collection on loan to the museum: From a Snowflake to an Iceberg: The McFerrin Collection (2013), Fabergé: The McFerrin Collection – The Opulence Continues … (2016), “The Wonder of Fabergé: A Study of the McFerrin Collection” (Fabergé Research Newsletter, Winter 2016), and a booklet entitled Everyday Fabergé: The McFerrin Collection (2022).

    Other highlights: In October 2023, a Fabergé aquamarine tiara designed for Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was on view for 35,000 visitors in four days at the German Münchner Mineralientage Fachmesse. The article, “Frames in the McFerrin Collection” by Pat Hazlett, master docent of the HMNS, with support from Gail Peterkin (editor) and Mary Andersen (editorial staff) was published in the HMNS volunteer newsletter, Dashing Diplodocus, Fall 2023. A new British publication, Fans: Building and Refining a Collection (2023) by Mary Cooper, is of interest, since the McFerrin Fabergé and Russian Collection has a dozen extant fans adorned with Fabergé guards.

  • Jordanville, New York. Russian History Museum – An active lecture series touching on many aspects of Russian art and history relating to Imperial times is offered on a regular basis.

  • Lexington, Kentucky. International Museum of the Horse – A brief video depicts a Fabergé punch bowl set with a presentation tray originally given to an American trainer and breeder, Frank Caton, who was a prominent figure in Russian horse racing in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 2013, Frank Caton (1852-1926) was honored as a new “Immortal” inductee into the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. A highlight in the “Frank Caton and Russian Harness Racing” exhibit is an octagonal presentation tray by Fabergé with eight ovals engraved with the names of 43 Russian donors.

  • NEW! (Courtesy Katrina Warne, UK) Lisbon, Portugal. The Royal Treasury – In 2022, a state-of-the-art museum opened in the unfinished wing of the restored Adjuda Palace in which King Luis I and Queen Maria Pia of Portugal lived from 1861 to 1889. The new Royal Treasury has modern airport-style security system protecting the treasures of jewelry, silver- gilt, silver, royal orders, and other precious items displayed on two floors. Among the treasures are four Fabergé gifts from King Victor Emanuel III of Italy (1869-1947) to his aunt Queen Maria Pia of Portugal (1847-1911), made ca. 1900 – three of them are by Mikhail Perkhin, Fabergé workmaster (active 1886-1903).

    1. Round blue enamel guilloché electric bell stands on three flattened ball feet – “A sunburst in gold radiates out from the central sapphire button. The outer edge is decorated with ten diamond stars.” (Royal Treasures published by Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, 1992, p. 76+)

    2. Triangular desk top clock in pink enamel guilloché with a white clock face and gold hands, and decorated with laurel wreaths.

    3. Nephrite letter opener in a case has a diamond-studded snake with a ruby-head wrapped around the middle.

    4. Pale blue enamel guilloché rectangular frame from the workshop of Anders Nevalainen (active 1885-1917) workshop is decorated with a laurel wreath, ribbons, and at the top gold free-standing ribbons. The oval photograph dated July 1, 1901, is King Victor Emanuel’s eldest daughter, Princess Yolanda (1901-1986) [identified as Mafalda in the 1992 monograph, p. 74], when she was one month old.
  • London, United Kingdom. Royal Collection Trust – One of the largest Fabergé collections with three Imperial Easter eggs: 1901 Basket of Flowers Egg, 1910 Colonnade Egg, 1914 Mosaic Egg, and one Kelch Egg (Twelve Panel Egg, 1899). All 286 objects are described online, and have additional search options of who, what, where, when, and more. Temporary exhibitions feature individual parts of the Fabergé collection. A useful research tool built into the website gives access to objects made by a specific Fabergé workmaster, i.e., Erik Kollin (active 1870-1901) is represented with 18 objects. Objects can be filtered by category, type, material, technique and subject, and other helpful search criteria. There are at least 450,000 photographs in the Royal Collection, acquired by members of the royal family from 1842 to the present day, including portraits, landscapes and images of the royal residences. The 2003 exhibition catalog of the British Royal Fabergé Collection by Caroline de Guitaut titled Fabergé in the Royal Collection is available as a PDF. Research for a comprehensive hard copy catalog is underway.

  • Moscow, Russia. Fersman Mineralogical Museum – Among 8,000 items made from gems and stones in the museum’s collection there are around 30 cut-gem lapidary Fabergé masterpieces, functional items, flowers, animals, human figures and Easter presentations. In 1925, Agathon Fabergé was persuaded to donate the personal gem collection of his father Carl Fabergé (1846-1920) to the museum. The collection consisted of more than two hundred polished gemstones, including emeralds, rubies, sapphires, aquamarines, alexandrites, phenakites, a few mineral specimens, and some gems in the rough. The article, “Fabergé Lapidary” in the Fersman Mineralogical Museum Collection by Marianna B. Chistyakova best describes the Fabergé collection. [Ed. note: The “Page title matches” links lead to the object illustration and description.)

  • Moscow, Russia. Kremlin Armoury Museum – The museum treasures include 10 Imperial Easter Eggs which seldom travel: 1891 Memory of Azov Egg, 1899 Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg, 1900 Trans-Siberian Railway Egg, 1902 Clover Leaf Egg, 1906 Moscow Kremlin Egg, 1908 Alexander Palace Egg, 1909 Standart Yacht Egg, 1910 Alexander III Equestrian Egg, 1913 Romanov Tercentenary Egg, and 1916 Steel Military Egg. Beautifully illustrated books with informative text by Tatiana Muntian of the museum’s staff describe the collection well.

    UPDATE! “Kremlin Fabergé Collection to Get New Home in 2024.” (Paul Gilbert’s Nicholas II Website, July 28, 2023.) During the building transition, the Fabergé Family Archive donated by Tatiana Faberge (1930-2020, Fabergé Research Newsletter, Spring 2020), the great-grand-daughter of Carl Fabergé, will not be available to researchers. (Details shared by Valentin Skurlov, Russia)

  • New York City, New York. Metropolitan Museum of Art – The Matilda Geddings Gray Fabergé Collection for years seen in New Orleans, Louisiana, continues to be exhibited in New York City. The collection includes the Lilies-of-the-Valley Basket, 1890 Imperial Danish Palaces Egg, 1893 Imperial Caucasus Egg, and 1912 Imperial Napoleonic Egg, and more. Matilda Geddings Gray willed the Gray Fabergé Collection to her niece, Matilda Gray Stream, who died in late 2023. The museum has begun describing Fabergé objects on its fledgling website which includes objects not related to Fabergé.

  • Richmond, Virginia. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts – Five galleries show the Fabergé and Russian decorative objects of Lillian Thomas Pratt. The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs – 1896 Revolving Miniatures Egg, 1898 Pelican Egg, 1903 Peter the Great Egg, 1912 Tsarevich Egg, and 1915 Red Cross Portraits Egg presented with 360° views are a one-of-a-kind treat only found in this collection. The Pratt Archives in the Freeman Library and the curatorial Fabergé files are a valuable resource for researchers. Barry Shifman, the Fabergé lead for this collection, retired after 16 years with the museum.

  • St. Petersburg, Russia. Fabergé Museum – The Collection Highlights include six searchable topics: Category, firm, materials, room, workmaster and date for their 10 Imperial eggs: 1885 Hen Egg, 1894 Renaissance Egg, 1895 Rosebud Egg, 1897 Coronation Egg, 1897 Resurrection Egg, 1898 Lilies of the Valley Egg, 1900 Cockerel Egg, 1911 Fifteenth Anniversary Egg, 1911 Bay Tree Egg, and 1916 Order Saint George Egg, and two Kelch eggs – 1898 Hen Egg and 1904 Chanticleer Egg (for more information on the eggs visit the Fabergé Research Site’s Imperial Egg Chronology section), and the Duchess of Marlborough Egg, and many other Fabergé and Russian objects. Visit their YouTube Channel, to see what is hidden inside the Fabergé Eggs, or take a 3D virtual tour. They are also building a 3D gallery of the museum’s Fabergé collection so one can see the items from all sides. The Fabergé Museum has sponsored scholarly symposiums relating to Fabergé and the Russian jewelry arts (Fabergé Research Newsletter Fall 14 | Summer 18). Welcome to Sofia Grigoryeva, the new Deputy Director of Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg!

  • St. Petersburg, Russia. Mining University Museum – Twenty Fabergé objects are from two sources – 13 of them in 1927 from the Leningrad branch of the State Museum Fund, and seven objects were bought by the museum in 1946. Eleven items are carved decorative animal figures and nine decorative items and table decorations. Ten possibly came from the palace of the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna: hare, ram, hippo, goose, three bonbonnieres (one made by workmaster Mikhail Perkhin and one by Erik Kollin), and a floral composition of daisies with an original case. Two parrots on a perch (one by work master M. Perkhin), and a decorative basket, probably from the Wigström studio and then from the Yousupov Collection.

  • St. Petersburg (Russia) State Hermitage Museum – In 2011, the Fabergé Memorial Rooms (#301–302) were opened in the General Staff Building complete with a virtual tour. The 1902 Rothschild Egg by Fabergé was donated in 2014 to the Hermitage Collection.

  • St. Petersburg (Russia) State Museum Pavlovsk – Guzanov, A., and R. R. Gafifullin, Fabergé Items of Late XIX – Early XX Century in the Collection of the State Museum of Pavlovsk, 2013, in the first full publication about 34 Fabergé items belonging to members of the Imperial family now housed in the Pavlovsk Palace Museum. The book’s appendix (in Russian) contains a chronological list of purchases made by members of the Romanov family from the Fabergé firm. The content of the Fabergé collection is not on the Internet, except for a news release on the well-known Fabergé hardstone figure, Chamber Cossack A.A. Kudinov, who guarded Empress Maria Feodorovna from 1878 to 1915. He was shown in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum venue in 2021-2022 along with N.N. Pustynnikov, the body guard who served Empress Alexandra Feodorovna from 1894 until 1917.

  • Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein National Museum – The Treasure Chamber displays more than 100 eggs from all over the world, some made by Carl Fabergé. The highlight is the 1901 Apple Blossom Egg.

  • Washington, DC. Hillwood, Estate, Museum & Gardens – Digital offerings for the Marjorie Merriweather Post Collection are Explore Hillwood from Home, Fabergé objects, two Imperial Easter Eggs: 1896 Twelve Monogram Egg and 1914 Catherine the Great Egg, and their comprehensive YouTube Channel with assorted Fabergé videos in the past. The website has an amazing variety of ways to learn about Hillwood’s and its past and present exhibitions, the life of its founder, Marjorie Merriweather Post and her collections. For more encounters, become a treasured Hillwood member to receive advance notices about all their happenings!
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