Carl Faberge, His Gold, and His Ties to

For nearly two decades, Joel A. Bartsch has headed the Houston Museum of Natural Science as its president and CEO. In this role, Joel Bartsch has helped organize a number of exhibitions. He also wrote the catalogue for Kremlin Gold, an exhibition that looked at the unique gold art created in Russia in association with the Kremlin.

One of the primary artists featured in the exhibition was Carl Faberge (1846-1920), a jeweler who largely rose to prominence because of his ties with the Russian imperial family. He learned the art under his father in Saint Petersburg and subsequently traveled to Germany and Italy to further his skills. When he returned to Russia, Tsar Alexander III noticed Faberge because of his ability to replicate the Kerch jewels in the Hermitage Museum.

In collaboration with Alexander III, and eventually his son Nicholas II, Faberge began to make the objets de fantasie for which he is so well known. These works include the Imperial Presentation Eggs, which were commissioned annually by Alexander III for his wife, Tsarina Maria. Each egg had its own theme and a surprise inside of it.