Museum’s Top Patrons Cluck Over the Eggs

It was a case of the eggony and the ecstasy last Thursday when top patrons of the Soviet arts festival arrived at the San Diego Museum of Art to preview its newest exhibit, “Faberge: The Imperial Eggs.”

As holders of the hottest tickets in town, the 600 had cause to be self-congratulatory, but a few bemoaned the absence of actress Elizabeth Taylor, whose attendance had been widely rumored on the basis of her palship with publisher Malcolm Forbes, who lent eight jewel-encrusted eggs for the exhibit.

Forbes did attend, and spent much of the evening in the company of his son, Christopher, Mayor Maureen O’Connor, philanthropist and fellow egg collector Joan Kroc and Academy Award winner Mercedes McCambridge.

The attendance list included Taylor’s name, but Forbes said that back troubles kept her in Hollywood. So the other guests became the first on their blocks to view the 27 astonishing “eggs” crafted by master jeweler Peter Carl Faberge for members of the Russian Imperial family. Lent by the Armory Museum of the State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin, Queen Elizabeth II, Forbes, Kroc and museums in Cleveland and New Orleans, the artworks will be on exhibit through Jan. 7.

While some guests were hard-boiled about Taylor’s absence, others admitted to scrambled emotions.

“No Liz!” exclaimed Heather Metcalf when she learned that the evening was not quite Taylored to suit. “We were looking forward to seeing her as much as the eggs--but the eggs are enough.”

For O’Connor, the eggs--and the wildly enthusiastic Who’s Who turnout--were indeed enough. “I’m kind of floating on air tonight,” she said. “When your dream becomes a reality, and the reality is better than your dream, it leaves you feeling wonderful .”

Guests alternated between the traditional Russian hors d’oeuvres in the Thornton Rotunda and the exhibit hall, where the jeweled eggs sparkled like Czarist interpretations of “a thousand points of light.”

It was noisy, and very well-guarded; under the clucking sounds made by marveling viewers, one could almost hear the ghost of Gertrude Stein declaim, “The eggs are under glass alas.” They were protected by bulletproof glass, no less, and by a platoon of uniformed guards.

Jean Hahn, who attended with her husband, developer Ernest Hahn, laughingly explained that she hasn’t a single Faberge egg on her curio table at home. “Our chickens don’t produce them,” she said. After examining the breathtaking, diamond-and-ruby “Alexander Palace Egg,” publisher Ed Self teased, “Now I know what Mikhail Gorbachev’s up to. He’s going to restore the monarchy.” Upon entering the exhibit, Dr. Robert Singer turned to his escort, Judith Harris, and said, “Honey, the bad news is that this isn’t a shopping trip.”

Some 200 of the museum’s top patrons were invited to stay for a post-exhibit dinner of zakuska (assorted Russian appetizers), roast lamb with prune sauce and a dessert of delicate chocolate eggs filled with mousse. Through the meal, a remarkable, egg-shaped cake decorated Faberge-style perched like Humpty-Dumpty on a display stand, but never tumbled.

The point of view that the exhibit and the arts festival mark a turning point in San Diego’s cultural path was expressed repeatedly.

Museum director Steven Brezzo said, “Tonight is dazzling, but it’s also exciting for the city because it presents San Diegans such a great opportunity to see fascinating objects that are rich in historical value.” George Gildred said of the exhibit, “It’s magnificent for our city, and we’re going to reap the rewards of it for years. San Diego will be nourished by this in the future.”

President of the museum board of directors, Joseph Hibben, whose Hibben Fund of the San Diego Community Foundation provided key funding for the arts festival, saw the exhibit as more than a showing of gem-encrusted baubles.

“Some people regard these eggs as trinkets of the rich, but to me they’re much more because they were given by important people in commemoration of important events, such as the opening of the Trans-Siberian Railway,” said Hibben. “They’re also symbols of the Resurrection, of rebirth, of new life and of the new hope we’re seeing all over the world today.”

Forbes maintained a low profile through the dinner, but closing remarks by Soviet Minister of Culture Mikhail Gribanov, offered through an interpreter, brought the audience to its feet again and again.

Armed with a glass of champagne, Gribanov said, “I have a deep feeling of satisfaction because I believe an interesting road is lying ahead of us. A long journey requires a first step. We have made this step, and we want to make more, so that we may have a more friendly and peaceful world. We’re sick and tired of all the stupidities that were in the world before, of all these Iron Curtains and all that nonsense. If you trust us, we will trust you, and we can go forward together, quickly and positively.”

At this point, Gribanov raised his glass and said, “Let’s drink Russian style!” A tough act to follow, the Soviet minister effectively brought the dinner to a close.

The guest list included Irina Rodimtseva, director of the State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin, and Irina Polinina, director of that museum’s Diamond Treasury; San Diego protocol chiefs Ann Evans and Jeanne Lawrence; Vice Adm. David Jeremiah, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet; Rose and Patrick Patek; Karon and Gordon Luce; Sue and Charles Edwards; Helene and Ed Muzzy; Jane and Lou Metzger; Marilyn and Kim Fletcher; Mavourneen O’Connor and Dr. Tom Kravis; Sally and John Thornton; City Manager John Lockwood; Nancy and James Baldwin; Mary and Bruce Hazard; Kathy and George Pardee; Johnnie and Glen Estell; Linda and Jeremy Kapstein; Charmaine and Maury Kaplan; Ingrid Hibben, and Lois and Donald Roon.