WILLIAM R. JOHNSTON

This exquisite exhibition catalogue brings together over one hundred of Carl Faberge '' s most beautiful creations combining hardstones and other precious materials. The volume presents the history of the renowned jeweler''s work using the rich mineral resources of Russia, from celebrated Easter eggs to delicate animal sculptures. These detailed masterpieces, many rarely exhibited, have been gathered from museums and private collections throughout the world. The intricacy of these minute pieces has a universal appeal that has charmed both Faberge '' s elite clientele and the public for over a century. Along with a comprehensive, full-colour catalogue of the exhibition organised by the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, in collaboration with the Faberge Arts Foundation, Washington D.C., are essays on the history of the house of Faberge; Faberge ''s illustrious clients and his hardstone; and a history of gem and hardstone production and decoration in Russia from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.