Czar Treatment

The rich, artistic heritage of those who lived in St. Petersburg during the rule of the Russian czars continues, thanks, in part, to Eugenie Fisher of Newport Beach.

Displayed in Fisher’s home are icons, antiques and silver passed down from her family.

Her mother was Baroness Alexandra von der Launitz, who served Czarina Alexandra and can trace her lineage to Rurik, who in the 9th century became the first Russian grand prince. Her father was Col. Theodore N. Ediss of the czar’s White Army. After the 1917 Revolution, her parents left Russia for Yugoslavia, where Eugenie was born. They came to New York in 1925 and she moved to Orange County in 1947.

“This house is really not a decorator’s dream,” Fisher said, “but it is full of things I love. The Russian things have always been important to me because it was the homeland of my hparents and the source of all of their young memories.”

She points to a small icon on her wall. “This 19th century image of the Virgin with child is gold on wood and was given to my mother by the czarina.”

The icon once had a plaque on the back with a dedication from the czarina to her mother, “but my mother took off the plaque because she was carrying this when she was escaping the Communists. She was afraid that if she was arrested and they found the inscription, that would be the end of her.”

Another icon--a silver bas-relief on painted wood--belonged to Fisher’s great-grandmother. “Russian men and women would carry these in their carriages when they traveled,” she explained. “The people were very religious. This is from 1836.”

An icon of Jesus Christ has a small frame surrounded by aquamarines and amethysts. “This one is pre-Faberge and is quite wonderful. I inherited it from my aunt,” she said.

On an antique Russian desk in the living room rests a blue-enamel-and-ormolu (gilded bronze) frame containing a picture of the czar and czarina with their daughter, Olga.

It’s near an enameled tin commemorative cup from the coronation of the czar in 1896 and two silver vodka cups. Two cut crystal and ormolu candlesticks from her great-grandmother round out the tableau. “The candlesticks came from Ilien, my grandmother’s estate on the Baltic,” she said.

A small, folding footrest of wood and needlepoint in the living room was used by her great-grandmother. “It would be taken in the carriage for her to rest her feet on since she was so small,” she said.

A love of art is also part of Fisher’s heritage.

“The arts were a part of Russian training, and my parents always encouraged us to be artists if we could. They honored artistic things way beyond anything material,” she said.

Within Fisher’s art-filled home are art objects such as a carved sandalwood valance from China, French pillows, Oriental kilim rugs, watercolors by her only son, artist Jay Fisher, a painting by her father and pastels she created.

A small room off the kitchen serves as her art studio. She has painted since her teen years and began dedicating more time to her art when her husband, John, died in 1992. “I realized I had to fall back on my own resources, and since I had help from past generations it was there for me to tap into,” she said.

Her history also extends to New York City. The Firebird restaurant there was built last year by Bill Holt, the husband of Fisher’s late cousin. The restaurant, she said, is an antique and flower-filled monument to the St. Petersburg of 1910, the year Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes stunned Paris with “Firebird” ballet.

In the restaurant are pictures and memorabilia from Fisher’s mother’s family. For the restaurant, Jay Fisher has re-created the a series of firebird paintings, originally designs by Leon Bakst for the ballet by Michel Fokine.

In Russian folklore the firebird is the symbol of life, the embodiment of sun and fire, a brilliant being opposed to evil, she said.

“I’ve been aware of the firebird legend since I was a child,” she said. “And the creative Russian people have always been fascinated with it and interpreted the legend in literature, painting and dance.”