Constellation (Fabergé egg)

History, description and authenticity

According to Franz Birbaum, Fabergé’ workshop manager, the egg was conceived as a clock in the form of a celestial globe of dark blue glass encircled by a rotating dial, held above billowing rock crystal clouds surmounted by silver cherubs; the whole supported on a nephrite pedestal. The globe was to be decorated with a diamond studded engraving of the constellations under which Tsarevitch Alexei was born. Work began on the egg, but the 1917 February Revolution and subsequent events overtook its production.

Birbaum tells in a letter written in August 1922 to Fabergé's eldest son, Eugene, the following:

Likewise, Birbaum says in his memoirs in 1919:

In 1925 the egg’s last owner, Fabergé's second son Agathon, delivered several dozen Fabergé pieces to the academician Alexander Fersman. Among these was an unfinished piece, comprising two halves of a dark-blue egg of cobalt glass and an unfinished base of rock crystal, made to resemble clouds. The clock dial and cupids, mentioned by Birbaum, were never found.

In 2001, the unfinished egg was identified in the collection of the Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow. Experts believe it to be the unfinished 1917 egg by Fabergé. It lacks the diamonds, nephrite base and silver putti intended to decorate it. Its authenticity is supported by numerous studies by Russian experts.

Tatiana Muntian, Fabergé expert at the Kremlin Armoury, confirmed the discovery by comparing the three found pieces to the original sketch signed by Karl Fabergé in 1917, as well as:

A false pretender

The Russian art collector Alexander Ivanov, claims that he owns the original (and finished) egg. In 2003–2004 he said that he acquired this egg in the late 1990s and affirmed that "the Fersman Museum erroneously continues to claim that it has the original egg." Fabergé experts do not agree and describe his egg as a Fauxbergé. Ivanov's egg is in the so-called Fabergé Museum in Baden-Baden, which houses his Fabergé/Fauxbergé collection.

References

Sources

References

1. [https://wartski.com/the-imperial-constellation-egg-by-faberge/ "The Imperial Constellation Egg by Fabergé"]
2. "Fabergé Egg Mysteries: A Literature Search".
3. "Fabergé Imperial Egg Chronology".
4. "1917 The Constellation Egg".
5. Карл Фаберже и мастера камнерезного дела. Самоцветные сокровища России. // Carl Faberge and masters of stone carving. Russian gems. Catalogue of the exhibition in Kremlin, Moscow. 2011. P. 62.
6. [https://www.ruzhnikov.com/forgeries-in-the-hermitage-the-wedding-anniversary-egg/ Andre Ruzhnikov (2021), ''Forgeries in The hermitage'']
7. "1917 Blue Tsarevich Constellation Egg".
8. "See photo".
9. [https://www.ruzhnikov.com/fakes-in-the-hermitage-the-good-soldier-ivano/ Andre Ruzhnikov (2021), ''Fakes in The hermitage'']