id: 142735 accession number: 1966.444 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.444 updated: 2023-04-23 11:15:56.147000 Flower Study of Forget-Me-Nots, c. 1885–1915. House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918). Turquoise, diamonds, rock crystal, silver gilt; overall: 8.9 x 3.1 cm (3 1/2 x 1 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.444 title: Flower Study of Forget-Me-Nots title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1885–1915 creation date earliest: 1885 creation date latest: 1915 current location: 211 Fabergé creditline: The India Early Minshall Collection copyright: --- culture: Russia, St. Petersburg, late 19th-early 20th century technique: turquoise, diamonds, rock crystal, silver gilt department: Decorative Art and Design collection: Decorative Arts type: Miscellaneous find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918) - maker 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. --- measurements: Overall: 8.9 x 3.1 cm (3 1/2 x 1 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The India Early Minshall Collection: Faberge and his Contemporaries opening date: 1967-03-15T05:00:00 The India Early Minshall Collection: Faberge and his Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 15, 1967-January 21, 1968). title: Year in Review: 1967 opening date: 1967-11-29T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967). title: Fabergé in America opening date: 1996-02-12T00:00:00 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). title: Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique opening date: 2008-10-19T04:00:00 Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2008-January 18, 2009); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 7-May 31, 2009). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE India Early Minshall [1885–1965], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?-1966 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1966- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The stems of Fabergé’s flower studies are set into little basins carved from rock crystal to resemble pots of water. digital description: These delicate flowers, resembling a bouquet of forget-me-nots, are composed of finely rounded turquoise stones set around rose-cut diamonds on silver-gilt stems placed in rock crystal pots. Fabergé’s inspiration for his flower studies is said to have come from the floral brooches of precious stones that were made in the 1700s for Catherine the Great as well as from the Japanese art of flower arranging, known as ikebana. Fabergé’s flower studies were given as intimate gifts to friends by the tsarina and others in the court. She also liked to take them around to wherever the imperial family was residing as a reminder of spring during the harsh Russian winters. wall description: These delicate flowers, resembling a bouquet of forget-me-nots, are composed of finely rounded turquoise stones set around rose-cut diamonds on silver-gilt stems placed in rock crystal pots. Fabergé’s inspiration for his flower studies is said to have come from the floral brooches of precious stones that were made in the 1700s for Catherine the Great as well as from the Japanese art of flower arranging, known as ikebana. Small and delicate, Fabergé’s flower studies were given as intimate gifts to friends by the tsarina and others in the court. She also liked to take them around to wherever the imperial family was residing as a reminder of spring during the harsh Russian winters. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Hawley, Henry H. Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. page number: Reproduced: p. 76; Mentioned: p.78, cat. 35. url: https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/836254532 Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p, 110, cat. 90 url: https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/34433639 Swezey, Marilyn Pfeifer, Caroline de Guitaut, and Joyce Lasky Reed. Fabergé Flowers. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, 2004. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 74-75. url: https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/54046274 Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, and Jeannine J. Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 180-181, cat. 52. url: https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/230187932 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.444/1966.444_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.444/1966.444_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.444/1966.444_full.tif