#Exhibit of the Month

In the dazzling world of precious stones and noble metals, certain jewelers stand out, mastering the art of harmonizing understated elegance with absolute refinement, genius with design, and sophistication with eternal, unforgettable splendor.
The name Fabergé, emblematic of originality and synonymous with the creations of a legendary house, has left an indelible mark on the history of jewelry and decorative arts. Renowned for uniting jewelry, artistic design, and utility into objets de luxe and objets de fantaisie, Fabergé's creations have always captivated with their exquisite craftsmanship. Fashioned from gold, silver, enamel, and precious stones, the pieces produced in Fabergé's workshops testify to exceptional virtuosity, marked by meticulous attention to detail and perfect material harmony. Even works inspired by earlier stylistic vocabularies bear the unmistakable mark of originality.

The National Museum of History of Moldova treasures a spectacular ladle, crafted in Fabergé's workshops in the late 19th century.
The Fabergé ladle is a curious blend of the "Russian style" and the "modern style." Made of solid silver, it features a circular, gold-plated bowl. Its raised, stylized handle (hook-shaped) is adorned with vegetal motifs, triple rings, and silver pearls. The rim is embellished with a wide band composed of rectangular medallions, decorated with spiral loops and stylized scales arranged alternately. The bowl is supported by four hemispherical feet. At the center, engraved inscriptions read: Eugenie von Platonow/St. Petersburg and ТОРГОВЫЙ ДОМЪ „АЛЕКСАНДРЪ"/1863/15/10/1913.
Research suggests that this ladle was commissioned by Alexander Trauberg, a first-guild merchant and owner of the "АЛЕКСАНДРЪ" Trading House located at Nevsky Boulevard 11, St. Petersburg. It was likely created to mark the 50th anniversary of his business in 1913.
The hallmark stamped on the base-Fabergé's K. ФАБЕРЖЕ logo surmounted by the Russian Empire's coat of arms, alongside the female profile in a kokoshnik within an oval frame, accompanied by the Greek letter Δ (delta) and the silver purity standard "88"-confirms that the piece was produced by Fabergé's Moscow branch.
The hypnotic charm of Fabergé's creations defined the aesthetic ideals of an era, embodying exuberance and refinement, crafted by a jeweler to kings and a king among jewelers.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“Echoes of War”

4-31 October, 2023

"Echoes of War", witness silent symphony of tales etched in forsaken homes and faded toys - remnants of laughter and life once vibrant. Amidst the rubble, silent voices hum and whisper. From this void, new stories arise, life persists.

In this deeply poignant exhibition, the Syrian photographer Omar Sanadiki provides a reflective visual journey contrasting the silent echoes and turbulent atmospheres from the war that broke out in 2011 in Syria with those captured in 2023 in Ukraine.

In his body of work, Sanadiki captivates the essence of shared human resilience and struggle evident in the faces, landscapes, and stories immortalized in each photograph. This exhibition is not a mere depiction of wars; it unearths the universal human spirit encased in time and space, a whispering echo between two disparate nations intertwined in a common saga of conflict and hope.

The photographs reveal the stories of those who have been forced to endure the irreversible consequences of political folly, the echoes of their silent voices resonating through the powerful imagery of destroyed homelands and shattered lives. It is a contemplative exploration of war, weaving together a mosaic of suffering, strength, loss, and survival, transcending geographical and cultural or linguistic boundaries.

The exhibition has been created as a result of the study visit organized by the European External Action Service to Ukraine in June 2023.

The War as I Saw it:

It is not my habit to talk about anything until I see it with my own eyes.
When I got the chance to visit Ukraine and see the war first-hand, I had an instant flashback to the war in Syria and I started remembering...
...remembering hundreds of images that I had seen in Syria, stories I have heard before, the suffering inflicted by the war and the photographs I had taken there. I began to compare the realities of the two wars: their commonalities and their contrasts.
War is war, wherever it happens, with its repercussions of homelessness, death and widespread destruction. Regardless where and when it happens, civilians are the first ones to suffer the consequences of a manmade tragedy.

The exhibition can be seen from October 4 to 31, 2023 on the fence of the National Museum of History of Moldova.