Today's lunchtime lecture was presented by Twyla Kitts, an educator from the VMFA, who came to talk about the Fabergé Eggs and the History of Russia. We traced the path of one egg in particular, the egg with a Vacheron Constantin watch inside (pictured left), in order to find about the relative price of an egg and how it shifted as time passed. We learned about the egg made its way from Russia/the tsar's family, to being taken by the government after their exile, and to this egg and many others being sold to people in the United States by the Soviet government. After being purchased by Armand Hammer for $2,000, it was sold to a Mr. Schaffer, and then a Mrs. Pratt, wife of one of the richest men at the time in the automobile industry, for $16,500. Years later, a man in the midwest purchased the egg at a flea market for $14,000 simply in interest to sell it for the gold and gems. However, after looking it up on the internet to find a general price estimate for the clock, he found that it was one of the 8 missing Fabergé eggs and was worth substantially more. After consulting an auction house that specialized in the eggs, he ended up selling it for about $33 million to an anonymous buyer. I found this path really interesting as I had learned about the eggs from elementary school, but had assumed that they had always been treasured and rotated to museums or something. To learn that one of the eggs was nearly melted down for parts was very surprising and almost startling. If something so beautiful and intricate was so close to being destroyed and lost forever, it makes you wonder how others perceive your art, whether as a precious commodity or simply a canvas with some liquified pigment applied as a paste. A little existentialist (?- Max help), I guess, but still, it is something to think about. It also shows how subjective the world is in terms of people's taste because the Soviet government clearly thought that the money that could be gained from the egg was worth more than the craftsmanship and history of the egg- this was years ago and I doubt that they would do the same today but the fact that they were willing to back then... The history of this egg alone demonstrates the accuracy of the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and it goes to show that art that you like to make/like the look of WILL NOT please everyone- ya just gotta do what feels right for you!!! learn more about the egg from the flea market: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-26/faberge-egg-with-vacheron-constantin-watch-found-at-flea-market
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AuthorNatalie Kim is a senior at MLWGS who likes to do art, take pics, and pet puppers. Archives
May 2020
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