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Faberge fan in use Posted by kat max on October 8, 2019, 8:35 pm I was looking at this is a photo of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia the other and the thought occurred to me that she might be holding a faberge fan gifted to her on her wedding. This photo was taken in 1906 on the occasion of the opening of the Russian Duma.(though signed an dated later) She wears her mothers jewels here. The impressive diamond necklace no longer exists and is thought to have been broken up for sale in the 1920s. The brooch, also her mothers and worn by earlier Russian empresses has also vanished. She also carries the Faberge fan in this photo that she was gifted at her wedding in 1901. You can clearly see the jewelled guardstick matches the one in photos of the fan. There are no known photos of Olga dressed for this first wedding, which was done with imperial pomp. There is a photoshop image floating around online of Olga in a wedding dress but it is a modern mock up. This unconsummated marriage to Peter of Oldenburg ended in divorce for Olga in 1916. She married the love of her life Nikolai Kulikovsky on 16 November 1916 in Kiev where Olga was working as a nurse. I think this the only photo I've actually seen of a faberge fan being used as it was intended to be. This fan is today in the collection of the Metropolitan museum of art in New York: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/238689 Maker:House of Carl Fabergé Maker: Workmaster: Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin (Russian, 1860–1903)

Re: Faberge fan in use Posted by Ashdean on October 9, 2019, 2:15 am, in reply to "Faberge fan in use" I think you are wrong about the necklace...it is not the same and Olga received incredible jewels on her marriage both as part of her trousseau as daughter of a Tsar and from her mother in law Eugenie of Oldenburg (nee Leutchenberg)who gave her amongst other items a ruby tiara from her great grandmother the Empress Josephine. Olga gave these gems back on her divorce and her ex husband and his parents managed to live comfortably in exile in Biarritz on the proceeds... Olga's own gems were lost when the bank her steward had placed them in was raided by the Soviets Previous Message I was looking at this is a photo of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia the other and the thought occurred to me that she might be holding a faberge fan gifted to her on her wedding. This photo was taken in 1906 on the occasion of the opening of the Russian Duma.(though signed an dated later) She wears her mothers jewels here. The impressive diamond necklace no longer exists and is thought to have been broken up for sale in the 1920s. The brooch, also her mothers and worn by earlier Russian empresses has also vanished. She also carries the Faberge fan in this photo that she was gifted at her wedding in 1901. You can clearly see the jewelled guardstick matches the one in photos of the fan. There are no known photos of Olga dressed for this first wedding, which was done with imperial pomp. There is a photoshop image floating around online of Olga in a wedding dress but it is a modern mock up. This unconsummated marriage to Peter of Oldenburg ended in divorce for Olga in 1916. She married the love of her life Nikolai Kulikovsky on 16 November 1916 in Kiev where Olga was working as a nurse. I think this the only photo I've actually seen of a faberge fan being used as it was intended to be. This fan is today in the collection of the Metropolitan museum of art in New York: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/238689 Maker:House of Carl Fabergé Maker: Workmaster: Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin (Russian, 1860–1903)

Re: Faberge fan in use Posted by Dave on October 9, 2019, 7:57 pm, in reply to "Faberge fan in use" Thanks Kat max, and what a great necklace you have featured, the stones are very large. I wonder if they were all of the highest and purest colour i.e. D colour and flawless. I have realized that many stones large ones are G colour and the cuts and polish makes them just as outstanding as the D colour and flawless stones. And they are also just as pricey too. But it is just a thought as to if persons who have large jewel collections go after particular types of stones as opposed to the others. Regards, Dave. Previous Message I was looking at this is a photo of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia the other and the thought occurred to me that she might be holding a faberge fan gifted to her on her wedding. This photo was taken in 1906 on the occasion of the opening of the Russian Duma.(though signed an dated later) She wears her mothers jewels here. The impressive diamond necklace no longer exists and is thought to have been broken up for sale in the 1920s. The brooch, also her mothers and worn by earlier Russian empresses has also vanished. She also carries the Faberge fan in this photo that she was gifted at her wedding in 1901. You can clearly see the jewelled guardstick matches the one in photos of the fan. There are no known photos of Olga dressed for this first wedding, which was done with imperial pomp. There is a photoshop image floating around online of Olga in a wedding dress but it is a modern mock up. This unconsummated marriage to Peter of Oldenburg ended in divorce for Olga in 1916. She married the love of her life Nikolai Kulikovsky on 16 November 1916 in Kiev where Olga was working as a nurse. I think this the only photo I've actually seen of a faberge fan being used as it was intended to be. This fan is today in the collection of the Metropolitan museum of art in New York: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/238689 Maker:House of Carl Fabergé Maker: Workmaster: Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin (Russian, 1860–1903)

Re: Faberge fan in use Posted by Beth on October 10, 2019, 5:22 am, in reply to "Faberge fan in use" What a great eye you have Kat Max! I think you are correct. We know that the Faberge fans would have been used, but so often the angle from which photos have been taken (or how fans were held) means that the finer details cannot be seen. I am always full of expectation when I see a heading indicating that you are discussing another fan. It is a shame that fans are no longer so widely used.

Re: Faberge fan in use Posted by kat max on October 10, 2019, 3:19 pm, in reply to "Re: Faberge fan in use" I know that Marie Feodorovna's colletion of jewels was raided by her daughters for the 1903 costume ball. In 1906 for the Duma the Romanov women put on the very best for the last real display of court jewels. I'm not convinced that all the jewels were ones owned by Olga as a result. If her mother thought they were not impressive enough she could easily have talked her daughter into wearing pieces that she had no plan to wear that were still well known Romanov pieces. Looking at Pappi he says also the jewels were from the imperial cabinet and the faberge fan was a gift from Nicholas II. The diamond necklace was mounted in silver with a gold channel below and held together by silk threads to make it more flexible. The hanging diamonds are antique Indian pieces from the 18th century coming to a total of 475 old carats. The central stone in the string weighs 32 carats. The stones either side weigh between 23 and 16 carats. The central pear shaped diamond weighs 26 carats and the four flanking diamonds between 25 and 16 carats.

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