#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

“Goddesses and Warriors: 100 Years to Marija Gimbutas”

Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus

23.09.2021–13.03.2022

The exhibition Goddesses and Warriors opened in the House of Histories presents Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994), the most famous Lithuanian archaeologist in the world, as well as her scientific insights.

Exhibition visitors learn about the two fundamental scholar's hypotheses on the development and identity of European culture, which earned her global recognition and gave rise to new academic as well as social movements.
8,000 years ago, the first farmers started spreading in the south-eastern part of Europe having brought their knowledge, customs, co-existence principles, and domestic animals from the Middle East. After they had got adapted to natural conditions, established relations with communities of hunters-fishers, a unique culture - referred to as Old Europe by Marija Gimbutas - started developing in the area ranging from Greece to the Carpathian region. Even though a great diversity of arts and technologies flourished there, certain common features were also evident: large settlements that existed for centuries; specialization in ceramics, metallurgy and various other crafts; trade and even rudiments of writing. Nevertheless, the most important point was that the life of this society was based on the cult of goddesses, the religion of the Goddess was dominant.

This civilisation ended when people of Kurgan culture started coming from the steppes 6,000 years ago. Those were pastoral nomads armed with daggers, axes and bows, identifiable from their specific burial customs, i.e. burying their relatives in barrows - kurgans. The Indo-European language, patriarchal traditions and tripartite perception of the world that they spread now form an integral part of the foundation of modern European culture.

In the exhibition, Marija Gimbutas's hypotheses defining European cultural transformation are illustrated with those archaeological finds that the scholar relied on by placing the greatest emphasis on them. Those unique exhibits arrived in Lithuania - to the House of Histories - from eighteen different European museums and institutions, including 56 pieces from the archaeological heritage of the National Museum of History of Moldova.

The third part of the exhibition is equally important. It focuses on Marija Gimbutas's personality and her life; on the woman who retreated from Lithuania to escape the Soviet occupation, who endured the hardships of migration yet never neglected her dreams and became a world-famous scholar. Her life constitutes an absolutely extraordinary story.

In the picture: Anthropomorphic figurine, Hamangia culture, 5000-4600 BC, Baia, Tulcea County, collection of the National History Museum of Romania, inv. no. 11662, © MNIR 2021, photo: Marius Amarie

Source: https://lnm.lt/en/events/international-exhibition-goddesses-and-warriors-100-years-to-marija-gimbutas/