Courtesy Taubman Museum of Art/Hodges Family Collection. The imperial presentation cigarette case (prior to 1899) is made from 14-karat gold covered in royal blue enamel with diamonds set in the crown.

Have you seen the exhibition? Are you going to go? Tell me what you think. (I personally got a kick out of getting to see these trinkets up close, I confess.) —MikeA

The name Faberge conjures the elaborately ornate jeweled Easter eggs made for the czars of Russia in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Yet the opulent artifacts created by House of Faberge jewelry company encompassed silverware, picture frames, clocks, letter openers, cigarette cases, pendants and more.

These everyday Faberge items didn’t just serve as decoration. It wasn’t uncommon at all for a noble or royal official to dip his pen in a Faberge inkpot, close an envelope with gum from a Faberge gum pot, put his official seal on it with a Faberge sealing wax case, and turn the large pages of a folio book with a Faberge paper knife.

Salem native Daniel Hodges, 57, a physician and entrepreneur who keeps a residence in Roanoke, has been collecting Faberge items since 2004. His collection has been exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and as of this month, it’s on display at the Taubman Museum of Art and will remain there through Jan. 19, 2013.

This 18-karat gold stamp viewer (prior to 1899) resembles a tiny book when closed. When opened, it reveals a tray that can hold a stamp and a magnifying lens that can be used to view the stamp.

“With a couple of exceptions, it is the best collection formed in recent years,” said Geza von Habsburg, an archduke of Austria and a Faberge expert. In fact, von Habsburg is a member of the Faberge Inc. board of directors and spoke at the opening of the Taubman Museum’s “Faberge from the Hodges Family Collection” earlier this month.

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“Faberge from the Hodges Family Collection”

Where: Taubman Museum of Art, downtown Roanoke

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 5 to 8 p.m. first Friday of each month; noon to 4 p.m. first Sunday of each month

How much: $7; senior citizens ages 65 and older $6; children 5-13 $3.75; children 4 and under free. Free admission Saturdays and first Friday evenings.

Info: 342-5760; taubmanmuseum.org