Imperial Fabergé Egg

We took our friends to the Hillwood Museum, the former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post of the Post Cereals, General Foods fortune. Marjorie had 4 husbands, all of whom she divorced.  Her first husband was Edward Bennett Close who would become the paternal grandfather of actress Glenn Close through his later marriage.   Her 2nd husband was E.F. Hutton and their daughter was actress Dina Merrill, (who only just died a month ago).  Her third husband, Joseph Davies, became the U.S. ambassador to Russia during Stalin’s reign in the 30’s and they were able to acquire an incredible Russian art collection through the Russian authorities during their time there. Apparently, the Stalinists didn’t have the appreciation for fine art that Marjorie did. Marjorie continued to collect Russian Decorative Arts right up until her death in 1973.  This collection is on display at Hillwood. 

Marjorie had other homes in addition to Hillwood here in D.C., one of which she built in Palm Beach Florida, called Mar-A-Lago.  You may have heard of it as it is now owned by Donald Trump. 

Also on display at Hillwood was a special exhibit of Marjorie’s very impressive jewelry collection, some of which now resides in museums but is on loan for this exhibit.  It is hard to believe that one woman could have this much incredible jewelry, some of which once belonged to Napoleon I. I guess when one dresses formally for dinner every night, one needs this much.  She certainly kept Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels and Harry Winston in business.  

This is one of two Imperial Faberge Eggs on display in the house.  It is quite large, probably 4-5 inches from top to bottom, excluding the stand.  This was taken through glass and hardly shows how exquisite it is. 

Backblipped 6-26-2017