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Dorothy Copus Brush Faberge sure left Last week this column told the story of the
Faberge Easter eggs created for Russian royalty. These egg-shaped
works of art all held a surprise inside their bejeweled shells.
In 1917 the Russian Revolution brought an end to the Faberge
business. Many years later a Faberge family surprise came to
light. Carl Faberge, owner of the famed business,
had four sons. Eugene, the eldest, joined his father in the Russian
firm. The youngest son, Nicholas Leopold, was sent to London
in 1906 to work with the manager of the Faberge London office.
The revolution was responsible for this business closing. Nicholas
had to find other work, and he found his niche as an artist.
He married an English woman, Dorise Cladish. In 1922 a son was
born to them in London. He was named Theodore, but the parents
made a strange decision shortly after the birth. They decided
the baby would be raised by his natural mother's sister and husband
as their own. Theodore Faberge became Theo Cladish Woodall. Theo grew to manhood believing his real mother
was his aunt and his real aunt and uncle were his parents. Although
he never suspected he was a Faberge, he enjoyed working with
his hands and had a natural talent for making intricate objects. As an adult he became a precision engineer
and followed that technical career for 30 years. In his spare
time he made all kinds of things in his home workshop. In 1969 another aunt dropped a bombshell when
she decided the masquerade should end. She told the 47-year-old
Theo that he was the grandson of Carl Faberge. Such a dramatic
development had a great impact on him. He began to understand
why he did not feel fulfilled in his work although he had his
own successful instrument business. He had a great desire to
create objects pleasing to the eye. He added Faberge to his name, but he wanted
to be recognized for his own talent and not because of his grandfather.
He turned to restoring antique furniture and clocks. Later Theo
started experimenting with ornamental wood, making original wood
creations to sell at craft shows. Soon he received commissions
to do special pieces. Theo had no intention of following the Faberge
tradition of creating exquisite eggs until a 12-year-old boy
pleaded with him to design an egg. Reluctantly, he made that
first egg of Central American cocobolo wood. He called it the
Scribe Egg and the surprise inside was a scribe's pen. It was
produced in a limited edition of 750 and remains a favorite of
the artist. This was the breakthrough because the egg
was recognized on its own merit. More egg creations followed.
In 1986 Faberge unveiled his St. Petersburg Collection of limited
edition eggs and jewelry at Marshall Field's department store
in Chicago. His work is recognized by experts and he has received
many honors for his creations. For the Atlanta Olympic Games Theo was commissioned
to do a Centennial Olympic Games Egg in honor of the 100th anniversary
of the games. The surprise inside this egg was a Greek coliseum
of 1896 with an inset of the medal given to the winners that
year. It was produced in a small edition of 500 and sold for
about $5,000 each. All his eggs are priced in the thousands of
dollars. Grandfather Carl Faberge died two years before
Theo was born. Theo lived 47 years, half a lifetime, before he
learned he was a Faberge and yet after the initial shock he finally
understood the artistic side of his being which heredity had
implanted. All Faberge eggs carry a surprise inside, and Theo became the surprise inside the Faberge family. |