for other uses see faberg disambiguation . this article uses bare urls for citations which may be threatened by link rot . please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style . several templates and the refill tool are available to assist in formatting . refill documentation october 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message the house of faberg french pronunciation fab e russian is a jewellery firm founded in 1842 in st. petersburg imperial russia by gustav faberge using the accented name faberg ; gustav was followed by his son peter carl faberg until the firm was nationalised by the bolsheviks in 1918 . the firm has been famous for designing elaborate jewel encrusted faberg eggs for the russian tsars and a range of other work of high quality and intricate details . in 1924 peter carl s son alexander with his half brother eug ne opened faberg et cie in paris making similar jewellery items but adding the city to their rival firm s trademark as faberg paris . in 1937 the brand name faberg was sold and then re sold in 1964 to cosmetics company rayette inc. which changed its name to rayette faberg inc. as the name was resold more times faberg companies such as faberg inc. launched clothing lines the cologne brut which became the best selling cologne at the time the perfume babe hair products and undertook film production . contents 1 early years 1.1 launch 1.2 carl faberg 2 rise to prominence 2.1 the imperial easter eggs 2.2 hardstone sculptures 2.3 other faberg creations 2.4 continued expansion 3 after the revolution 4 reputation 5 sale of brand name 6 in popular culture 7 gustav faberge monument . 8 see also 9 references 10 further reading 11 external links early years edit gustav faberg and his wife charlotte jungstedt the faberg family can be traced back to 17th century france then under the name favri . the favris lived at the village of la bouteille in the picardy region of northern france . however they fled the country during or shortly after 1685 because of religious persecution . an estimated fellow 250 000 huguenots as the movement of french protestants was known also became fugitives . 1 papers in the faberg family archives reveal that during the family s progress eastwards through europe the family s name changed progressively from favri through favry fabri fabrier and then to faberge without an accent . at schwedt on oder northeast of berlin in the second half of the 18th century a jean favri subsequently favry is known to have been employed as a tobacco planter . by 1800 an artisan called pierre favry later peter fabrier had settled in p rnu in the baltic province of livonia now estonia . a gustav fabrier was born there in 1814 . by 1825 the family s name had evolved to faberge . in the 1830s gustav faberge moved to saint petersburg to train as a goldsmith under andreas ferdinand spiegel who specialised in making gold boxes . later he continued his training with the celebrated firm of keibel goldsmiths and jewellers to the tsars . in 1841 his apprenticeship over gustav faberge earned the title of master goldsmith . launch edit in 1842 gustav faberg opened faberg as a jewelry store in a basement shop . citation needed adding a diacritic to the name s final e may have been an attempt to give the name a more explicitly french character to appeal to the russian nobility s francophilia . citation needed french was the official language of russia s royal court citation needed was widely used by the country s aristocracy citation needed and russia s upper classes associated france with luxury goods . citation needed later in that year gustav married charlotte jungstedt the daughter of carl jungstedt an artist of danish origin . citation needed in 1846 the couple had a son peter carl faberg popularly known as carl faberg . citation needed carl faberg edit main article peter carl faberg carl faberg was educated at the gymnasium of st anne s. this was a fashionable establishment for the sons of the affluent middle classes and the lower echelons of the nobility providing an indication of the success of his father s business . gustav faberg retired to dresden germany in 1860 leaving the firm in the hands of managers outside of the faberg family while his son continued his education . the young carl undertook a business course at the dresden handelsschule . at the age of 18 he embarked on a grand tour . he received tuition from respected goldsmiths in frankfurt germany france and england attended a course at schloss s commercial college in paris and viewed the objects in the galleries of europe s leading museums . carl returned to st petersburg in 1872 aged 26 years . for the following 10 years his father s workmaster hiskias pendin acted as his mentor and tutor . in 1881 the company moved to larger street level premises at 16 18 bolshaia morskaia . following pendin s death in 1882 carl took over the running of the firm . three other significant events happened that year . he was awarded the title of master goldsmith . agathon faberg his younger brother by 16 years joined the business . while agathon s education was restricted to dresden he was noted as a talented designer who provided the business with fresh impetus until his death 13 years later . rise to prominence edit following carl s involvement with repairing and restoring objects in the hermitage museum the firm was invited to exhibit at the pan russian exhibition in moscow . one of the faberg pieces displayed at the pan russian exhibition was a replica of a 4th century bc gold bangle from the scythian treasure in the hermitage museum . tsar alexander iii declared that he could not distinguish faberg s work from the original . he ordered that specimens of work by the house of faberg should be displayed in the hermitage museum as examples of superb contemporary russian craftsmanship . in 1885 the house of faberg was bestowed with the coveted title goldsmith by special appointment to the imperial crown beginning an association with the russian tsars . the imperial easter eggs edit main article faberg egg the moscow kremlin egg 1906 in 1885 tsar alexander iii commissioned the house of faberg to make an easter egg as a gift for his wife the empress maria fedorovna . its shell is enamelled on gold to represent a normal hen s egg . this pulls apart to reveal a gold yolk which in turn opens to produce a gold chicken that also opens to reveal a replica of the imperial crown from which a miniature ruby egg was suspended . although the crown and the miniature egg have been lost the rest of the hen egg as it is known is now in the collection of victor vekselberg . the tradition of the tsar giving his empress a surprise easter egg by carl faberg continued . from 1887 it appears that carl faberg was given complete freedom as to the design of the imperial easter eggs as they became more elaborate . according to the faberg family tradition not even the tsar knew what egg form they would take the only stipulation was that each one should contain a surprise . the house of faberg completed 54 imperial eggs for alexander iii to present to his empress and for nicholas ii to present to his mother the dowager empress maria fedorovna and his wife the empress alexandra fedorovna . 2 of these 42 have survived . the eggs for 1917 were never completed but have been discovered in recent years . most recently in 2015 faberge revived its tradition of making the imperial egg with the latest one being made in collaboration with the al fardan family of qatar . the new pearl egg has been created with pearls acquired by the al fardan family as part of their pearl business in the persian gulf area . the pearl egg s mother of pearl exterior opens to reveal a unique grey pearl of 12.17 carats sourced from the persian gulf . the eggs includes 139 white pearls 3 305 diamonds carved rock crystal and mother of pearl set on white and yellow gold . a mechanism makes the entire outer shell rotate on its base simultaneously opening in six sections to unveil its treasure . the pearl egg is accompanied by a faberg necklace of white pearls diamonds and mother of pearl featuring a scallop motif and finished with a 19.44 carat white pearl drop . 3 hardstone sculptures edit purple amethyst cane handle by faberg with white enamel rose and yellow gold and a string of pearls . circa 1890 1898 amongst faberg s more popular creations were the miniature hardstone carvings of people animals and flowers carved from semi precious or hardstones and embellished with precious metals and stones . the most common animal carvings were elephants and pigs but included custom made miniatures of pets of the british royal family and other notables . the flower sculptures were complete figural tableaus which included small vases in which carved flowers were permanently set the vase and water were done in clear rock crystal quartz and the flowers in various hardstones and enamel . 4 the figures were typically only 25 75 mm long or wide with some larger and more rare figurines reaching 140 200 mm tall 5 and were collected throughout the world ; the british royal family has over 250 items in the royal collection including pieces made by michael perkhin and henrik wigstr m. 6 7 other important faberg miniature collectors were marjorie merriweather post 8 her niece barbara hutton 9 and even faberg s competitor cartier who in 1910 purchased a pink jade pig and a carnelian agate fox with cabochon ruby eyes set in gold . 10 11 nephrite jade bell push by faberg . circa 1890 other faberg creations edit the house of faberg also stocked a full range of jewellery and other ornamental objects . there were enamelled gold and silver gilt as well as wooden photograph frames ; gold and silver boxes ; desk sets walking sticks doorbells and timepieces . 12 quality was assured by every article made being approved by carl faberg or in his absence by his eldest son eug ne before it was placed into stock . the minutest of faults would result in rejection . continued expansion edit the house of faberg won international awards and became russia s largest jewellery firm employing some 500 craftsmen and designers . in the early 20th century the headquarters of the house of faberg moved to a purpose built four storey building in bolshaia morskaia . branches were also opened in moscow odessa kiev and london . from england the company made annual visits to the far east . after the revolution edit the house of faberg was nationalised by the bolsheviks in 1918 . in early october carl faberg left petrograd on the last diplomatic train for riga . the revolution in latvia started in the middle of the following month and carl was again fleeing for his life to germany first to bad homburg and then to wiesbaden . the bolsheviks imprisoned his sons agathon and alexander . initially agathon was released to value the valuables seized from the imperial family the aristocrats wealthy merchants and faberg amongst other jewellers . he was re imprisoned when the bolsheviks found it difficult to sell this treasure at agathon s valuations . with europe awash with russian jewels prices had fallen . madame faberg and her eldest son eug ne avoided capture by escaping under the cover of darkness