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Jun 5, 2008

Jun 6, 2008

Framed Miniatures of the Russian Imperial Family

c. 1896–1905

maker

House of Fabergé

(Russian, 1842–1918)

workmaster

Johan Viktor Aarne

(Finnish, 1863–1934)

Russia, St. Petersburg

Watercolor on ivory in a gold and silver gilt frame

Overall: 21.6 x 23.5 cm (8 1/2 x 9 1/4 in.)

The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.460

Location

not on view

Artist biography

House of Fabergé

Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920) took over the House of Faberge in 1870 from his father Carl Gustav Faberge who had founded the firm in 1842. Until 1881, the firm manufactured primarily jewelry for Saint Petersburg's aristocrats and wealthy elite. In 1885 the firm was awarded the coveted imperial warrant as goldsmith to the tsar and began to produce elaborate presentation Easter eggs as a gift for the tsarina from her husband every year. They also produced luxurious accessories, jewelry, and hardstone sculptures. At one point, Faberge employed over 300 workers including 22 workmasters who oversaw the production of the firm's jewelry and precious objects. A branch of the firm opened in Moscow in 1887, specializing in neo-Russian and pan-Slavic motifs in jewelry, silver, and enamel. Other branches followed in Kiev, London, and Odessa as well as new premises in Saint Petersburg. At the onset of the Russian Revolution, Peter Carl Faberge fled the country to Paris then Switzerland, where he died in 1920. His firm was nationalized by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Johan Viktor Aarne

Aarne received his training in St. Petersburg and returned to Finland, where he became a workmaster in 1891. In the same year he returned to St. Petersburg and became associated with Fabergé.

Provenance

said to have come from the apartments of the Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Alexander Palace, Tsarskoe Selo; India E. Minshall, Cleveland, Ohio.

Citations

Hawley, Henry H. Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 50-51, cat. no. 21

Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 104, cat. no. 77

Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 7, 42, 118, cat. no. 51 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

Exhibition history

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2/12/96-4/28/96); The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (5/25/96-7/28/96); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (8/24/96-11/2/96); New Orleans Museum of Art (12/7/96-2/8/97); The Cleveland Museum of Art (3/9/97-5/11/97). "Fabergé in America," exh. cat. no. 77, p. 104; color repr. p. 104.

MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 51, p. 118, color repr. p. 7 & 42.

The India Early Minshall Collection: Faberge and his Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 15, 1967-January 21, 1968).

Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).

Faberge, Imperial Jeweler. St. George Hall of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (June 18-August 15, 1993); Musée des arts Décoratifs, Paris, France (September 24, 1993-January 2, 1994); Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (January 26-April 10, 1994).

Fabergé in America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (February 12-May 5, 1996); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (organizer) (May 25-July 28, 1996); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (August 24-November 2, 1996); New Orleans Museum of Art (December 7, 1996-February 8, 1997); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-May 11, 1997).

The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

Fabergé Loan. Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, TN (organizer) (September 15, 2008-June 30, 2009).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Framed Miniatures of the Russian Imperial Family|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.460|author=House of Fabergé|year=c. 1896–1905|access-date=30 November 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Framed Miniatures of the Russian Imperial Family

Framed Miniatures of the Russian Imperial Family

House of Fabergé

Johan Viktor Aarne

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Johan Viktor Aarne

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