FABERGE COSSACK FIGURES CREATED FROM RUSSIAN GEMSTONES

摘要

Between 1908 and 1916, the workshops of the Russian court jeweler Carl Faberge created approximately 50 hardstone figures representing the Russian people, including peasants, merchants, noblemen, and soldiers. Made from gems and precious metals, they are as rare as the well-known Imperial Easter eggs. The last Romanov emperor, Nicholas II, owned 21 of these portrait figures, two of which depict the Cossack bodyguards of the Romanov empresses. This article examines the hardstone figures through known biographical details, archival photographs of the Chamber Cossacks Kudinov and Pustynnikov, an original production sketch, and an invoice from the Faberge firm. It discusses the creation of the pieces from gemstones and minerals mined in Russia.