On September 12, jewelry dealer and Russian specialist Marie Betteley introduced her forthcoming book Beyond Fabergé, Imperial Russian Jewelry, set to be released in October 2020.
A lavishly illustrated systematic survey of all the leading jewelers and silver masters of Imperial Russia, Beyond Fabergé promises to be an indispensable reference on the Russian jewelry arts. This lecture considered the dazzling narratives of numerous masterworks and firms (including names such as Pauzié, Bolin, Hahn, Koechli, Seftigen, Marshak, Morozov, Nicholls & Plincke, Grachev, Sazikov, and others) as it traversed through a stunning display of Imperial era treasures.
The lecture was part of the Russian History Museum’s Second Saturday lecture series. This program is funded in part by a Humanities New York CARES Grant with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the federal CARES Act.
About the Speaker
Born in Paris, Marie Betteley grew up in a world of Russian treasures, having spent her teenage years on the grounds of Hillwood Museum in Washington, DC, as the director’s daughter. Marie majored in art history at university and went on to earn a Graduate Gemologist diploma from the Gemological Institute of America. Her professional career began at Christie’s auction house in New York where she worked as a gemologist, and eventually rose to head of the Russian Department. After ten years at Christie’s, she launched her own business trading in antique jewels. Today, she is a leading authority of Imperial Russian decorative arts and jewelry, and consults for auction houses, museums, and private collectors worldwide.