{"id":26406,"date":"2015-04-21T12:46:07","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T10:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T11:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T10:20:09","slug":"it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/","title":{"rendered":"“It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard” Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"9lieXlrgFPzlbL5zHPi8gg\"<\/p>\n

Ukraine has passed the law “On access to the archives of repressive bodies of the communist totalitarian regime of 1917\u20131991.” Meduza has already discussed<\/a> with Soviet repression specialist Nikita Petrov the significance that opening these archives will have for Russian historians. Regarding what this means for art historians, journalist Nikita Zeya<\/b> spoke with Valentin Skurlov\u2014an art historian, consultant for the Russian department at Christie’s, expert on the valuation of artistic assets for the Ministry of Culture, and researcher of Faberg\u00e9’s work. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u2014 On April 9, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law granting citizens access to all secret archives of the Soviet security forces and special services\u2014the KGB, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the GRU, the Ministry of Defense, and military courts. Could this revolutionize the scientific world?
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

“As for Ukrainian scholars having special grace, I wouldn’t rush to conclusions. Let’s talk about it in a year or two, once the first results come in. Even now, current Russian law allows access to formerly classified data. <\/p>\n

The problem is that Russian archives don’t have the funding to digitize documents and put them online the way British archives do, where several million files have already been published.<\/p>\n

The problem lies in allocating funding to the Archival Administration and in strictly enforcing the targets for declassifying such documents and releasing them to the public online. And of course, it would help to make life easier for researchers working in the archives of the Cheka-OGPU-KGB, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade. There’s a wealth of fascinating documents there. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Would you like to go and work in the Ukrainian archives of the Soviet secret services? <\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 I would gladly go to the Ukrainian archives of the VChK-KGB and SBU, but I believe it is still too early. Even in Tsarist Russia, it was said that “the severity of laws is mitigated by their non-observance.” The law’s procedure is not yet defined. And the devil is in the details. For example, will they provide archival documents from the secret services to a citizen of Russia\u2014an “aggressor country”? Perhaps an American would be granted such documents for a “modest fee,” but I do not have the means to financially “stimulate” underpaid employees of Ukrainian archives. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Has politics affected relations with Ukrainian scholars? <\/b><\/p>\n

“Since 2009, I spent five years preparing a publishing project called ‘Ukraine and Faberg\u00e9.’ But because of the well-known events in Ukraine, the project has been put on hold. One of the respected recipients of the Faberg\u00e9 Foundation award wrote to me in January last year saying he goes to the Maidan every day to bring stones. Another professor from Lviv suddenly demanded payment for scanning photographs from his book, even though I’m publishing the book with my own money. A third award recipient, the director of a jewelry factory in the Luhansk region, had his son kidnapped by ATO fighters, who demanded a $200,000 ransom. <\/p>\n

Or take this example. Last year a graduate student from Ukraine consulted with me. He had written a dissertation on how the ‘Torgsin’ stores were used to organize the Holodomor among Ukrainians in the Chernihiv region. In other words, gold, silver, and diamonds were confiscated and vouchers issued in exchange, but Moscow supposedly deliberately withheld goods so the vouchers couldn’t be redeemed. As Goebbels used to say, the more monstrous the lie, the sooner people will believe it. <\/p>\n

That’s what happens when genuine archival documents aren’t published \u2014 myths arise, and myths are useless to fight. As Professor Losev said in his ‘Theory of Myth,’ a myth can only be refuted by another myth. <\/p>\n

In Ukraine, all jewelers have gone underground and complain that the craft is now developing in the shadows. And there’s a heap of everyday problems on top of that. It’s dangerous to visit Odessa jewelers after the fire at the House of Trade Unions. My colleagues are forbidden from attending jewelry conferences in Russia \u2014 you immediately come under suspicion. Chapters on Russian-Ukrainian ties during the period 1917\u20131991, and even during the era of Tsarist Russia, are being excluded from research. <\/p>\n

\u2014 You are the representative of the Faberg\u00e9 Memorial Foundation in Russia and the scientific secretary of this foundation. You travel the world, presenting the Order of Faberg\u00e9 to patrons, stone carvers, jewelers, and scholars. Have the Russian and Ukrainian holders of the order fallen out after the recent events? <\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 Yes, 560 people in 18 countries have been honored with Faberg\u00e9 awards. Among them are 130 Ukrainian (including ten jewelers from Donetsk and Luhansk) and 330 Russian recipients. The Ukrainian count no longer includes 14 recipients from Crimea. They have become enemies with their Ukrainian colleagues; it has reached the point where they do not allow their names to be published in the same book. As the saying goes, they won’t even sit in the same field together now. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Is there anything in the Crimean archives of interest to a researcher of Faberg\u00e9’s work?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 Archives were not kept there; in Soviet times, all Crimean palaces and estates were under the jurisdiction of security agencies. I traveled to Feodosia, where there was a stone carver who cut carnelians for Faberg\u00e9. Eugene Faberg\u00e9, the eldest son, personally traveled to the Emperor in Crimea for Easter in 1912 to present an Easter egg. <\/p>\n

\u2014 What forms of secrecy exist in Russian archives today? <\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 There are four forms: “Secret,” “Top Secret,” “Top Secret of Special Importance,” and “Top Secret, Special Folder.” For the last two, there is no time limit; they could be declassified in 100 or 200 years. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Where is it hardest to gain access? Can you list the most problematic archives for scholars? <\/b><\/p>\n

“Archives in Russia are departmental \u2014 that’s been the case since tsarist times. The most difficult archives for researchers are those of the FSB, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Each has its own departmental rules of access. <\/p>\n

Until 2004, all Russian archives (apart from the ones mentioned above) were part of the Main Archival Administration, a body at ministerial level. After 2004, they came under the Ministry of Culture. Today, RGIA (the Russian State Historical Archive) has published several thousand files online, but for a fee. By comparison, the British royal archive has published several million files, and for free. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Is it possible to find sensational documents in the archives now? <\/b><\/p>\n

“At this point, nothing can really shock society anymore. I can only speak to my own field. In the 1920s and 30s, many masterpieces from tsarist palaces, Russian museums, and private collections were sold abroad. To this day, we know nothing not only about the volume and range of these sales, but also about the identities of those who carried them out. The law protects biographical information about individuals for 75 years. [That means] everything from before 1940 should already be declassified. But here, someone first has to give the order to declassify. No one ever does. Archivists say: write to the higher-ups, we still haven’t received any order or funding for the declassification process. <\/p>\n

Remember how, for many years, the existence of an authentic map of the ‘Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact’ was denied. Was that some kind of malicious sabotage? I still don’t understand this narrowly conceived notion of protecting state interests. Or take the documents on Katyn, which still haven’t been opened. That’s truly a painful subject. Society wouldn’t rise up in outrage if it learned how antiques were used to finance the activities of the Comintern. <\/p>\n

\"Valentin

Valentin Skurlov
Photo: from V. Skurlov’s archive<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2014 And what exactly would you like to learn from the classified documents?<\/b><\/p>\n

“We need to know in what quantities, and in what condition, antique items were shipped abroad. After all, there are still no records showing the transfer, through the All-Union Association ‘Antiquariat,’ of 13 imperial Easter eggs to the American businessman and friend of Lenin, Armand Hammer, or to Emanuel Snowman of the firm Wartski (London), through whose hands, by his own account, nine imperial eggs passed. <\/p>\n

We need to know how Alexander Polovtsov came to possess two imperial Easter eggs now kept in the Gatchina Palace: the egg with a trellis and roses, and the ‘Gatchina Palace’ egg. After the revolution, Polovtsov became the first director of the nationalized palace-museum in Gatchina, and was among the first to conduct an inventory of the palace’s holdings. He later emigrated to Paris, where he opened an antique shop and dealt in works of Russian art. In Paris, Polovtsov sold those very two Easter eggs from Gatchina \u2014 the ‘Palace’ egg and the one with the trellis and roses \u2014 to American collectors. If Polovtsov stole these masterpieces belonging to Russia, then we need to call things by their proper name \u2014 theft. And we should demand their return from the United States, where they’re now kept at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. <\/p>\n

There are still many collections that haven’t been declassified. For example, GARF (the State Archive of the Russian Federation) holds the Torgsin collection. Torgsin was a Soviet trading organization that, between 1931 and 1936, bought up foreign currency, antiques, and jewelry from foreigners and Soviet citizens alike. About 15% of the files in the Torgsin archival collection remain classified to this day. <\/p>\n

There’s also the collection of the People’s Commissariat of Finance’s Currency Administration, which was given 42 imperial Easter eggs back in 1922 \u2014 93 years ago! Only 24 of them were returned five years later. Where did the other 18 disappear to in the meantime, including the one that Faberg\u00e9 researchers are arguing about today? <\/p>\n

\u2014 Are you referring to the jade Empire Egg, created in 1902 by the House of Faberg\u00e9 by order of Nicholas II for his mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna?<\/b><\/p>\n

“Yes. Some art historians have doubts about its origin, mainly because there’s no documented ‘history of ownership’ for the piece covering the years 1922 to 1995. In the West, a clean legal provenance matters enormously. What if there are some ‘bloody’ stories hiding behind this piece? When an object is worth millions of dollars, I wouldn’t rule out such stories. <\/p>\n

I’ve held the ‘Empire’ egg in my own hands, and I’m inclined to believe it’s genuine.<\/p>\n

In 1922, this jade egg, featuring a miniature portrait of Emperor Alexander III and set with two diamonds, was still in Russia. After that, the trail goes cold. It unexpectedly resurfaced in 1995 in an antique shop in St. Petersburg. It was brought in by the heirs of a Cheka officer, an old Bolshevik named Comrade Schwartz (who died in 1951), who had been chairman of the All-Ukrainian Cheka in 1918. By that point, though, the egg no longer had its imperial attributes \u2014 no diamond crown, no monograms of the Tsar and his wife, no miniature. So why not try to find the documents recording the transfer of this valuable item to Comrade Schwartz between 1922 and 1951? And to understand in what capacity he received it \u2014 as a gift, or simply purchased at closed sales. <\/p>\n

\"Jade

The jade ‘Empire’ egg
Photo: from V. Skurlov’s archive<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\u2014 Will it be possible to find data on Schwartz in the open archives of the VChK-KGB of Ukraine? <\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 No, the dossier on Comrade Schwartz is kept in Moscow, not in Ukraine, because he belongs to the “Central Committee nomenclature” category, and such documents are not kept in local archives. Isaac Izrailevich Schwartz was the chairman of the All-Ukrainian Cheka from December 1918 to April 1919, then the Central Committee plenipotentiary for the Donbas, and in 1921 he left for Moscow, where he received the “Imperial Easter gift”\u2014the 1902 egg. <\/p>\n

\u2014 What is the logic behind the decisions made on certain cases? It seems that science is held hostage by a group of people guided only by principles known to them? <\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 You are answering the question yourself. Historical science in our country is held hostage by a group of people bound by corporate and caste interests, which they falsely understand or incorrectly interpret as “state interests.” Perhaps the lack of funding for digitizing documents also plays a role. <\/p>\n

\u2014 And what problems do scholars face with non-classified archival materials? <\/b><\/p>\n

“In the first half of the 1990s, I traveled to Moscow often and worked in one of the largest archives there. They simply wouldn’t give me the albums of photographs of Nicholas II and his family. The standard excuse was: ‘The director of the archive is working on these albums; until he gets them published, we can’t give you anything.’ The director was the same one who’s still there today. The album (and not just one) did eventually come out, but the price was striking even by today’s standards \u2014 $300. A year later, when I tried to request a few photographs for a possible publication, the financial terms they quoted killed any desire I had. It’s like that line from Raikin: whatever we’re guarding is what we end up keeping for ourselves. I wonder, did the archive director himself pay such sums to use archival photographs? Hardly. I don’t like counting other people’s money, but here the situation is so obvious it hardly needs comment \u2014 and plenty of archivists know it too. <\/p>\n

At the foreign policy archive [of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs], you’re not allowed to use the card catalog yourself. You have to give the name you’re looking for, and staff check the main catalog and tell you whether there are files on that person or not. Sometimes you have to wait a couple of days or more for an answer. On what basis do the archive staff decide what I need? Sometimes a name only comes up while browsing through the catalog itself. The situation is the same in another departmental archive \u2014 the Military History Archive. <\/p>\n

In some archives, preference is given to foreigners, who \u2014 it’s no secret \u2014 reward staff financially. One such archive was written about in the national press. There were reports of rudeness, coarseness, and indifference toward domestic researchers on the part of the staff. On top of that, my colleagues have complained to me about this particular archive more than once. <\/p>\n

That’s why new historical facts tend to surface in Western sources more often than in our own.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Do Western scholars face the problem of closed archives in their own countries?<\/b><\/p>\n

“The Turks still deny the Armenian genocide of 1915, even though 100 years have passed. And they don’t publish any documents. They say there’s no problem. What’s more, if you so much as poke around in Turkish archives, you risk criminal prosecution. So we need to be cautious about using other countries as a benchmark too. In other countries, archives are well preserved, but unlike Russian ones, they’re scattered. You have to wear out a lot of shoe leather to find what you need. There’s no powerful state archival system \u2014 instead, there are many private archives. Patrons donate enormous sums, and American universities buy up private archives. <\/p>\n

For example, the Hoover Archive holds documents on the White \u00e9migr\u00e9 community. Access to these archives is open, but Americans have cooled toward studying Russia since 1990. <\/p>\n

In Britain there are the Lloyd’s archives. This is an extremely powerful organization that recorded the movement of valuable items across jewelry firms worldwide, including in Russia. No one has really worked with these archives yet, because they’re corporate rather than state archives, and granting access is entirely at the owners’ discretion. The Lloyd’s archive, for instance, contains records on the movement of items from the Faberg\u00e9 firm, which was actively engaged in trade abroad. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Are there foreign archives that categorically deny access?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 Access is still denied to the archives of monarchies. No one knows the documents regarding the sale of Faberg\u00e9 items to the monarchies of Britain, Japan, Thailand, and other countries. This is related to the privacy of personal property. If the Labour Party finds out how many valuables the British Queen has, they might suspend funding for the Royal Family. Their budgets are approved by Parliament. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Why did the majority of Russian artworks sold by the Bolshevik government abroad in the 1920s and 30s end up in the USA? <\/b><\/p>\n

“In my view, many cultural masterpieces ended up abroad for purely economic reasons. It was the easiest way to raise hard currency. The director of the Kremlin Armoury, Ivanov, said of this sell-off of masterpieces in the name of boosting industry: ‘It’s like watering a field with a watering can during a drought.’ There was no economic assessment of works of art then, and there still isn’t now. Back then, items were sold by the price of their metal content. There was another explanation too: hopes for a world revolution, after which works of art would become the property of the world proletariat, and the American proletariat would then return artistic treasures to the Russian (Soviet) proletariat \u2014 just as the Soviet authorities returned the Dresden Gallery to East Germany in 1957. I see no other reasons for the removal of our national cultural treasures. <\/p>\n

Many works of art of Russian origin ended up with Americans after the Second World War, as trophies seized from the Germans. In the 1920s, Soviet Russia sold many Faberg\u00e9 pieces precisely through Berlin auction houses. Or consider this chain of events: Russian antiques were sold in the 1920s to the Paris antique dealer Seligmann (who was of Jewish origin); in 1940, these items were confiscated by the Germans during the occupation of Paris; and in 1945, they passed to the Americans as war trophies. <\/p>\n

Other countries sold off jewelry treasures during financial crises too. France, for example, sold royal treasures after its defeat in the war against Prussia in 1870, in order to replenish the state budget. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Can one find out what happened to our treasures in American archives?<\/b><\/p>\n

“The fact is that the Bolshevik government sold many items through illegal channels. The American entrepreneur Armand Hammer managed to befriend the Soviet government and became a friend of the USSR. In 1921, Hammer signed an agreement with the People’s Commissariat of Trade: he would supply American wheat in exchange for antiques. Hammer lived in Moscow for 10 years, buying paintings and sculptures, and amassed an enormous collection of items from Russian museums \u2014 including Rembrandt’s ‘Juno,’ which is now kept at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n

In the early 1930s, Hammer took 13 imperial Faberg\u00e9 Easter eggs out of Russia.<\/p>\n

So, I tried to trace the path these imperial eggs took from Soviet Russia to the United States. It turned out that American customs records contain no information whatsoever about their legal import into the country. Which means they must have gotten in illegally. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Nikita Zeya<\/p>\n

Saint Petersburg<\/p>\n

Original article (source)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukraine has passed the law “On access to the archives of repressive bodies of the communist totalitarian regime of 1917\u20131991.” Meduza has already discussed with Soviet repression specialist Nikita Petrov the significance that opening these archives will have for Russian historians. Regarding what this means for art historians, journalist Nikita Zeya spoke with Valentin Skurlov\u2014an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,67],"tags":[],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"class_list":["post-26406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-uncategorized-2"],"yoast_head":"\n"It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard" Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs - Carl Faberg\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard" Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs - Carl Faberg\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ukraine has passed the law “On access to the archives of repressive bodies of the communist totalitarian regime of 1917\u20131991.” Meduza has already discussed with Soviet repression specialist Nikita Petrov the significance that opening these archives will have for Russian historians. Regarding what this means for art historians, journalist Nikita Zeya spoke with Valentin Skurlov\u2014an […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Carl Faberg\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Fondation-Igor-Carl-Faberg-608709292870869\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-21T10:46:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-11-06T10:20:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"I.C.F.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"I.C.F.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"15 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"I.C.F.\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6835a57ddcacf9435e9d419c1b1d1673\"},\"headline\":\"“It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard” Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-21T10:46:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-06T10:20:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3157,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard\\\" Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs - Carl Faberg\u00e9\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-21T10:46:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-06T10:20:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u00ab\u00a0It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard\u00a0\u00bb Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fondation Carl Faberg\u00e9\",\"description\":\"Fondation Carl Faberg\u00e9\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Fondation Carl Faberg\u00e9\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/carl-faberge-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/carl-faberge-logo.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":536,\"caption\":\"Fondation Carl Faberg\u00e9\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Fondation-Igor-Carl-Faberg-608709292870869\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/fondation-igor-carl-faberg\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/fondationicfaberge\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@FondationIgorCarlFaberge\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6835a57ddcacf9435e9d419c1b1d1673\",\"name\":\"I.C.F.\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ce5084e6573e3a8b31c1d127f162c3b0cd38ab3a74b346d9f1138f6946ec3ef0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ce5084e6573e3a8b31c1d127f162c3b0cd38ab3a74b346d9f1138f6946ec3ef0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ce5084e6573e3a8b31c1d127f162c3b0cd38ab3a74b346d9f1138f6946ec3ef0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"I.C.F.\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard\" Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs - Carl Faberg\u00e9","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard\" Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs - Carl Faberg\u00e9","og_description":"Ukraine has passed the law “On access to the archives of repressive bodies of the communist totalitarian regime of 1917\u20131991.” Meduza has already discussed with Soviet repression specialist Nikita Petrov the significance that opening these archives will have for Russian historians. Regarding what this means for art historians, journalist Nikita Zeya spoke with Valentin Skurlov\u2014an […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/","og_site_name":"Carl Faberg\u00e9","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Fondation-Igor-Carl-Faberg-608709292870869\/","article_published_time":"2015-04-21T10:46:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-11-06T10:20:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"I.C.F.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"I.C.F.","Est. reading time":"15 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/"},"author":{"name":"I.C.F.","@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6835a57ddcacf9435e9d419c1b1d1673"},"headline":"“It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard” Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs","datePublished":"2015-04-21T10:46:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-06T10:20:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/"},"wordCount":3157,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/","name":"\"It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard\" Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs - Carl Faberg\u00e9","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg","datePublished":"2015-04-21T10:46:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-06T10:20:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AdobeStock_653540245_Editorial_Use_Only-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/it-turns-out-like-raikin-we-own-what-we-guard-art-historian-valentin-skurlov-on-how-opening-ukrainian-archives-will-help-track-the-history-of-faberge-eggs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u00ab\u00a0It turns out like Raikin: we own what we guard\u00a0\u00bb Art historian Valentin Skurlov on how opening Ukrainian archives will help track the history of Faberg\u00e9 eggs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/","name":"Fondation Carl Faberg\u00e9","description":"Fondation Carl Faberg\u00e9","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#organization","name":"Fondation Carl Faberg\u00e9","url":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/carl-faberge-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/carl-faberge-logo.png","width":600,"height":536,"caption":"Fondation Carl Faberg\u00e9"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Fondation-Igor-Carl-Faberg-608709292870869\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/fondation-igor-carl-faberg\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/fondationicfaberge\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@FondationIgorCarlFaberge"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.igorcarlfaberge.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6835a57ddcacf9435e9d419c1b1d1673","name":"I.C.F.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce5084e6573e3a8b31c1d127f162c3b0cd38ab3a74b346d9f1138f6946ec3ef0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce5084e6573e3a8b31c1d127f162c3b0cd38ab3a74b346d9f1138f6946ec3ef0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce5084e6573e3a8b31c1d127f162c3b0cd38ab3a74b346d9f1138f6946ec3ef0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"I.C.F."}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26406"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondationcarlfaberge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=26406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}