The State Hermitage has presented a recently restored armillary sphere and egg-shaped clocks crafted by the masters of the Karl Fabergé company in St. Petersburg in 1902. The exhibits were showcased at a press conference.
"The joint project 'Connection of Times - Connection of Technologies' with Samsung Electronics has been existing for a long time. It is brilliantly conceived: the project combines the latest technologies, respect for past technologies, and carries a certain philosophical meaning and museum tradition that nothing new can exist without learning from the old," said Mikhail Piotrovsky, the Director General of the State Hermitage.
The collaboration between Samsung Electronics and the Hermitage has been ongoing for many years as part of the "Connection of Times - Connection of Technologies" program, which focuses on the restoration of technically complex museum exhibits. One of the unique features of the restored armillary sphere, one of the first domestic models of the Solar System developed in the early 19th century in Russia by cartographer Petr Shelekhov and mechanic Osip Shishorin, is the built-in clock mechanism that demonstrates the movement of planets in real time.
"During the restoration, the lost elements were recreated: the images of the Earth, the Moon, and its bracket with a counterweight, the hour and minute hands, the moon position indicator, the calendar corrector hands, and the clock mechanism components. Now the armillary sphere is fully restored and returned to its original condition," the statement said.
Also, as part of the program, the Fabergé egg clocks, crafted by the masters of the Karl Fabergé company in 1902, were restored. After the restoration, the clocks can once again reproduce bird song sounds.
About Karl Fabergé
Peter Carl Gustavovich Fabergé was born in St. Petersburg in 1846. From 1866, he regularly visited the Treasure Gallery of the Imperial Hermitage, studying and restoring jewelry items created by old masters. In 1874, Fabergé started supplying products from his own workshop and in 1885, he received the title of Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty. A few years later, he became the Court Jeweler of the Imperial Court. In 1918, Carl Fabergé permanently left Russia.
In 1902, the Imperial Hermitage Museum facilitated the organization of Fabergé's first personal exhibition in St. Petersburg, which brought him great success. The products of his company gained worldwide fame in the 20th century. In 1993, an exhibition titled "Fabergé - Court Jeweler" was presented in the Georgievsky Hall of the Winter Palace, which later toured Paris and London.
