10/10/2026
In the Fabergé Museum collection, a rare example of the early works of the Fabergé firm is a gold brooch with an amethyst in the firm's signature wooden case, which bears the name of its founder, "G. FABERGÉ".
The item was produced between 1842 and 1872, when the firm was led by Gustav Fabergé (1814-1893), the father of Carl Fabergé. He was a descendant of French Huguenot craftsmen who had relocated to Brandenburg (Germany), and he was born in the Livonia Governorate of the Russian Empire, in Pärnu.
After training as a jeweler, Gustav Fabergé opened a small jewelry firm with its own workshop in the center of St. Petersburg in 1842. Thus began the history of the renowned Fabergé jewelry firm. Under his leadership, the company produced small and inexpensive items in limited quantities. Some of them were acquired in France, while others were produced in the jewelry workshop of August Holmström in St. Petersburg.
In 1872, Carl Fabergé became the head of his father's firm, and ten years later, his brother Agathon became its chief artist.
Brooch. St. Petersburg, 1842-1872. G. Fabergé firm. Fabergé Museum collection.
