All that glisters
They are the almost unimaginable treasures of a magni ficent imperial court – and some of the most coveted and collectable objects of adornment in existence. For these alluring pieces are among the most spectacular surviving jewels and objets d’art of Imperial Russia, crafted in St Petersburg and now the legacy of two centuries of superlative craftsmanship.
Clocwise from top left: Fabergé gold, silver and diamond tiara, the workshop of August Holmstrom, c. 1890. Courtesy of the McFerrin Collection, Texas; Diamond fl owers, originally part of the Russian crown jewels, Louis David Duval, 1780s. Collection of Mr and Mrs James M Vaughn Jr. Courtesy of the Houston Museum of Natural Science; Devant de corsage in the Renaissance style, but made c. 1840. Private collection
This splendid industry was ignited during a very feminine age, a period of 70 years between 1725 and 1796 when the Russian Empire was ruled by a succession of four in uential women: Catherine I, Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth Pretovna and Catherine II. During their reigns, St Petersburg’s goldsmiths ourished and the national appetite for luxurious jewellery was truly whetted.
From left: Platinum and diamond pendant brooch by Vladimir Gordon, c. 1910. Private collection; A large, pure pink diamond is at the centre of Empress Maria Feodorovna’s tiara, by Jacob David Duval, c. 1800. Courtesy of State Historical-Cultural Museum-Preserve
Continuing through the reigns of Alexander I, Nicholas I and on into the heyday of Karl Fabergé in the court of Nicholas II, this period of opulent excess only ended with the iconoclastic 1917 revolution.
From left: Diamonds and pink topazes in a necklace from a parure made by Jean Francois André Duval, 1818, given by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna to her granddaughter. Courtesy of A La Vieille Russie, New York; Princess Tatiana Aleksandrovna Iusupova by Franz Winterhalter, 1858. Courtesy of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
Afterwards, the age of the great Russian aristocrats – and their passion for sumptuous luxuries – had been swept away by the Bolsheviks. But these rare pieces, many now in private collections in Scandinavia, bear testament to a vast nation’s Diamond Age.
Jewels From Imperial St Petersburg, by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, is published by Unicorn Press, £49.99.
Clocwise from top left: Fabergé gold, silver and diamond tiara, the workshop of August Holmstrom, c. 1890. Courtesy of the McFerrin Collection, Texas; Diamond fl owers, originally part of the Russian crown jewels, Louis David Duval, 1780s. Collection of Mr and Mrs James M Vaughn Jr. Courtesy of the Houston Museum of Natural Science; Devant de corsage in the Renaissance style, but made c. 1840. Private collectionThis splendid industry was ignited during a very feminine age, a period of 70 years between 1725 and 1796 when the Russian Empire was ruled by a succession of four in uential women: Catherine I, Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth Pretovna and Catherine II. During their reigns, St Petersburg’s goldsmiths ourished and the national appetite for luxurious jewellery was truly whetted.
From left: Platinum and diamond pendant brooch by Vladimir Gordon, c. 1910. Private collection; A large, pure pink diamond is at the centre of Empress Maria Feodorovna’s tiara, by Jacob David Duval, c. 1800. Courtesy of State Historical-Cultural Museum-PreserveContinuing through the reigns of Alexander I, Nicholas I and on into the heyday of Karl Fabergé in the court of Nicholas II, this period of opulent excess only ended with the iconoclastic 1917 revolution.
From left: Diamonds and pink topazes in a necklace from a parure made by Jean Francois André Duval, 1818, given by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna to her granddaughter. Courtesy of A La Vieille Russie, New York; Princess Tatiana Aleksandrovna Iusupova by Franz Winterhalter, 1858. Courtesy of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg Afterwards, the age of the great Russian aristocrats – and their passion for sumptuous luxuries – had been swept away by the Bolsheviks. But these rare pieces, many now in private collections in Scandinavia, bear testament to a vast nation’s Diamond Age.
Jewels From Imperial St Petersburg, by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, is published by Unicorn Press, £49.99.