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View the masterpieces of this collection Panoramic view of Hall 5 of the Diamond Rooms The manner in which the jewellers’ art formed in St Petersburg differed from that seen in many Russian and European artistic centres. A host of national artistic schools co-existed in the city, interacting and complementing each other. As well as the Russian gold- and silversmiths who moved to the new capital from Moscow, many craftsmen from various corners of Europe worked in St Petersburg. Works by such foreign jewellers make up a considerable part of the Hermitage collection. The heyday of jewellery production in St Petersburg came in the second half of the 18th century and is associated with the names of such highly skilled masters as Jérémie Pauzié, Jean-François Xavier Bouddé, Johann Gottlieb Scharff, Jean-Pierre Ador and the Théremin brothers. At that time there was an exceptional upsurge in demand for the jewellers’ wares. The imperial court and Russian aristocracy commissioned refined luxury items: watches and clocks, bouquets, rings, brooches and snuffboxes, the fashion for which endured in Russia for over a century. The traveller William Coxe, who visited St Petersburg in 1778, observed that the wealth and opulence of the Russian court exceeded the most luxurious descriptions. In it traces of the old Asiatic splendour mingled with European refinement. In the 19th century many jewellers continued to follow contemporary trends and a new peak in the jewellers’ art in St Petersburg is associated with Carl Fabergé and his workshop. |
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