Born on November 20, 1939, in Peenemünde, Germany, Christel Ludewig McCanless is a former librarian and noted Fabergé scholar. She currently resides with her husband George in Huntsville, Alabama, where she immigrated with her parents after fleeing Russian occupied East Germany in 1953. Her father, Hermann R. R. Ludewig, was a missile and space engineer at the Peenemünde Army Research Center under Wernher von Braun.
While serving as the Library Director of the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the 1960s, she became interested in the art of Fabergé after reading Robert K. Massie's book, "Nicholas and Alexandra," and Morton Shulman's book, "Anyone Can Make a Million." Massie's book provided the historical details of imperial Russia in which the decorative art of the Russian court jeweler, Peter Carl Fabergé, flourished. Shulman's book discussed how one "can make a million" in collecting art objects. As a practicing librarian, McCanless instead began collecting pieces of paper, in the form of books and journals, which mentioned Fabergé and his art.
In 1994, she published her first book, "Fabergé and His Works: An Annotated Bibliography of the First Century of His Art," the first annotated bibliography of literature about Fabergé. Her second book followed in 2001, which she co-authored with Australian scholar Will Lowes. "Fabergé Eggs: A Retrospective Encyclopedia" is the only work of its kind and is the premiere reference work on the subject.
Through the course of her work, McCanless connected with a tremendous network of fellow Faberge scholars and enthusiasts and as a result, went on to found the "Fabergé Research Newsletter" and "Fabergé Research" website in 2006. The site continues to serve as a vehicle for disseminating new research and discoveries about Fabergé and his art.
Additional biographical information can be found at Encyclopedia.com (link provided by McCanless).
The collection is open for research.
The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Transmission or reproduction of other materials protected by copyright, beyond that allowed by fair use, requires the researcher to obtain permission of copyright holders.
Christel Ludewig McCanless Collection Related to Peter Carl Fabergé (SC-27). Gift of Christel Ludewig McCanless. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
The collection's inclusive dates are 1971-2019, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1990s-2000s. The collection is comprised of correspondence, writings, research materials, bibliographic records, auction results, audiovisual materials, slides, books, posters, and realia.
The collection is organized into six series. Series 1, 2, and 6 are divided into sub-series by topic.
Original order and folder titles were retained during processing.
The collection is comprised of materials donated by Christel Ludewig McCanless. The original donation occured in 2016, with periodic accretions received a few times each year. Series 6 was donated in November 2019.
This series is comprised of reference materials gathered by McCanless, including bibliographic records, auction results, correspondence, and copies of articles. The series is divided into sub-series by topic.
This series is comprised of original research conducted by McCanless in preparation for articles published in her "Fabergé Research Newsletter" and other publications. Files include reference materials, images, and drafts. The series is divided into sub-series by topics.
McCanless published articles on the Fersman Portfolio in the Fall 2010, Winter 2010-2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Winter 2015, and Summer and Fall 2016 issues of her "Fabergé Research Newsletter".
McCanless published an article on the sailor figurine in the 2011 exhibition catalog "Fabergé Revealed".
This series is comprised of 293 black-and-white and color slides of many topics related to Fabergé.
This series is comprised of audiovisual materials (VHS, audiocassettes, and computer disks) related to Fabergé. Most of the VHS tapes are annotated on the "Faberge Research" website.
This series is comprised of books and realia that document the pervasiveness of Fabergé in culture. The materials include fiction books, posters, wall calendars, and a jigsaw puzzle.
Piatnik is a Viennese playing card manufacturer, founded in 1824.
This series contains the data files for the book "Fabergé Eggs: A Retrospective Encyclopedia" (2001). The folders contain the egg data in various versions, but not all the books, and journals and newspapers listed in the book's reference section. Many files contain postcards, negatives, photographs, as well as bibliographic and research resources. The series also contains a printed copy of the revised version of the book, which was never printed. Currently, 70 pages of the book are available online through Google Books.
The series is organized into five sub-series by category, which were maintained from McCanless' original filing order.