Fabergé egg

The Moscow Kremlin egg, 1906.
Bouquet of Lilies Clock egg.

A Fabergé egg (Russian: Яйца Фаберже; Yaĭtsa Faberzhe; ) is any one of the thousands of jeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé from 1885 through 1917. The majority of these were miniature ones that were popular gifts at Eastertide. They would be worn on a neck chain either singly or in groups.

The most famous eggs produced by the House were the larger ones made for Alexander III and Nicholas II of Russia. Of the 50 made, 42 have survived.[1] A further two eggs were planned but not delivered, the Constellation and Karelian Birch eggs for 1918, as Nicholas II and his family were assassinated that year, and Nicholas had abdicated the crown the year before.

Seven large eggs were made for the Kelch family of Moscow.[2]

The eggs are made of precious metals or hard stones decorated with combinations of enamel and gem stones. The term "Fabergé egg" has become a synonym of luxury and the eggs are regarded as masterpieces of the jeweller's art. The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs are regarded as the last great series of commissions for objets d'art.

Contents

History

The story began when Tsar Alexander III decided to give his wife the Empress Maria Fedorovna an Easter Egg in 1885, possibly to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their betrothal. It is believed that the Tsar’s inspiration for the piece was an egg owned by the Empress’s aunt, Princess Wilhelmine Marie of Denmark, which had captivated Maria’s imagination in her childhood. Known as the Hen Egg, it is crafted from gold. Its opaque white enamelled ‘shell’ opens to reveal its first surprise, a matte yellow gold yolk. This in turn opens to reveal a multi-coloured gold hen that also opens. It contains a minute diamond replica of the Imperial Crown from which a small ruby pendant was suspended. Unfortunately, these last two surprises have been lost.[3]

Empress Maria was so delighted by this gift that Alexander appointed Fabergé a ‘goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown’. He commissioned another egg the following year. However, after that, Peter Carl Fabergé, who headed the House, was apparently given complete freedom for future Imperial Easter Eggs, as from this date their designs become more elaborate. According to the Fabergé family tradition, not even the Czar knew what form they would take: the only stipulation was that each one should contain a surprise. Following the death of Alexander III on November 1, 1894, his son presented a Fabergé egg to both his wife, the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, and to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna.

No eggs were made for 1904 and 1905 because of the Russo-Japanese War. Once an initial design had been approved by Peter Carl Fabergé, the work was carried out by an entire team of craftsmen, among them Michael Perkhin, Henrik Wigström and Erik August Kollin.

The Imperial eggs enjoyed great fame, and Fabergé made some other large eggs for just a few select private clients, such as the Duchess of Marlborough, the Nobels, the Rothschilds and the Yusupovs. Among them is a series of seven eggs made for the industrialist Alexander Kelch.

List of Fabergé Tsar Imperial Easter eggs

  • 1885 Hen
  • 1886 Hen with Sapphire Pendant†
  • 1887 Blue Serpent Clock
  • 1888 Cherub with Chariot†
  • 1889 Nécessaire†
  • 1890 Danish Palaces
  • 1891 Memory of Azov
  • 1892 Diamond Trellis
  • 1893 Caucasus
  • 1894 Renaissance
  • 1895 Rosebud
  • 1895 Twelve Monograms
  • 1896 Revolving Miniatures
  • 1896 Alexander III Portraits†
  • 1897 Coronation
  • 1897 Mauve†
  • 1898 Lilies-of-the-Valley
  • 1898 Pelican
  • 1899 Bouquet of Lilies Clock
  • 1899 Pansy
  • 1900 Trans-Siberian Railway
  • 1900 Cockerel
  • 1901 Basket of Wild Flowers
  • 1901 Gatchina Palace
  • 1902 Clover Leaf
  • 1902 Empire Nephrite†
  • 1903 Peter the Great
  • 1903 Royal Danish†
  • 1904 No eggs made
  • 1905 No eggs made
  • 1906 Moscow Kremlin
  • 1906 Swan
  • 1907 Rose Trellis
  • 1907 Cradle with Garlands
  • 1908 Alexander Palace
  • 1908 Peacock
  • 1909 Standart Yacht
  • 1909 Alexander III Commemorative†
  • 1910 Colonnade
  • 1910 Alexander III Equestrian
  • 1911 Fifteenth Anniversary
  • 1911 Bay Tree
  • 1912 Czarevich
  • 1912 Napoleonic
  • 1913 Romanov Tercentenary
  • 1913 Winter
  • 1914 Mosaic
  • 1914 Grisaille
  • 1915 Red Cross with Triptych
  • 1915 Red Cross with Imperial Portraits
  • 1916 Steel Military
  • 1916 Order of St. George
  • 1917 Karelian Birch
  • 1917 Constellation (unfinished)
† Indicates missing egg

List of Fabergé Kelch eggs

Other Fabergé eggs

Location of eggs

Location of the Fabergé eggs Number
Imperial: 42
Viktor Vekselberg collection, Russia (formerly Forbes) 9
Kremlin Armory Museum, Moscow, Russia 10
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, USA 5
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee, USA 3
Royal Collection, London, UK 3
Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Switzerland 2
Hillwood Museum, Washington, D.C, USA 2
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 2
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA 1
Albert II of Monaco collection, Monte-Carlo, Monaco 1
The State of Qatar 1
Private Collections, USA 3
Kelch: 7
Viktor Vekselberg collection, Russia (formerly Forbes) 2
Royal Collection, London, UK 1
Private Collection 4
Others: 8
Viktor Vekselberg collection, Russia (formerly Forbes) 2
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA 1
Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Switzerland 1
Russian National Museum, Moscow, Russia 1
Private Collection 3

Of the 65 known large Fabergé eggs[4], only 57 have survived to the present day. Ten of the Imperial Easter Eggs are displayed at the Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow in Russia. Of the 50 known Imperial eggs, only 42 have survived.

Of the eight lost Imperial eggs, photographs exist of only two,[5] the 1903 Royal Danish, and the 1909 Alexander III Commemorative eggs.

Only one, 1916's Order of St. George egg, left Bolshevik Russia with its original recipient, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.[6] The rest remained in Petrograd.

Following the Russian Revolution, the House of Fabergé was nationalized by the Bolsheviks, and the Fabergé family fled to Switzerland, where Peter Carl Fabergé died in 1920.[7] The Romanov palaces were ransacked and their treasures moved on order of Vladimir Lenin to the Kremlin Armoury.[7]

In a bid to acquire more foreign currency, Joseph Stalin had many of the eggs sold in 1927, after their value had been appraised by Agathon Fabergé. Between 1930 and 1933 fourteen Imperial eggs left Russia. Many of the eggs were sold to Armand Hammer, president of Occidental Petroleum and a personal friend of Lenin, whose father was founder of the United States Communist party, and Emanuel Snowman of the London antique dealers Wartski.

After the collection in the Kremlin Armoury, the largest gathering of Fabergé eggs was assembled by Malcolm Forbes, and displayed in New York City. Totalling nine eggs, and approximately 180 other Fabergé objects, the collection was put up for auction at Sotheby's in February 2004 by Forbes' heirs. Before the auction even began the collection was purchased in its entirety by the oligarch Victor Vekselberg for a sum estimated between $90 and $120 million. [8]

In November 2007, a Fabergé clock, named by Christie's auction house the Rothschild egg, sold at auction for £8.9 million (including commission).[9] The price achieved by the egg set three auction records: it is the most expensive timepiece, Russian object, and Fabergé object ever sold at auction, surpassing the $9.6 million sale of the 1913 Winter egg in 2002.[10][11]

Gallery

'Alexander III Equestrian' Egg

The Memory of Azov Egg

The Peter The Great Egg

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs,by Fabergé, Skurlov, Proler, London, 1997, page 90. ISBN 0-90343-248-X
  2. ↑ http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/Kelch-Eggs/Kelch-Eggs.htm Story of the Kelch eggs from mieks.com
  3. ↑ http://www.mieks.com/faberge-en/1885-Hen-Egg.htm Article on the first Hen egg
  4. ↑ The 50 delivered Imperial Eggs, the Karelian Birch Egg, the 7 Kelch Eggs, the Duchess of Marlborough, the Rothschild, the Youssoupov, Nobel, the Resurection, Spring Flowers, and the Blue Striped Enamel eggs - total 65
  5. ↑ Egg Hunting, Pro Division - Forbes.com
  6. ↑ Faberge - Treasures of Imperial Russia
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Faberge Eggs - the fate of the eggs
  8. ↑ Energy Tribune
  9. ↑ The clock was previously documented and had been published in 1964 in L'Objet 1900 by Maurice Rheims, plate 29
  10. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7116956.stm Fabergé egg sold for record £8.9m, BBC News, 28 November 2007
  11. ↑ Bloomberg.com: Muse Arts

Further reading

External links

Fabergé Eggs
Imperial Easter Eggs
Hen • Hen with Sapphire Pendant • Blue Serpent Clock • Cherub with Chariot • Nécessaire • Danish Palaces • Memory of Azov • Diamond Trellis • Caucasus • Renaissance • Rosebud • Twelve Monograms • Rock Crystal • Alexander III Portraits • Coronation • Mauve • Lilies-of-the-Valley • Pelican  • Bouquet of Lilies Clock • Pansy  • Trans-Siberian Railway • Cockerel  • Basket of Wild Flowers • Gatchina Palace • Clover Leaf • Empire Nephrite • Peter the Great • Royal Danish • Moscow Kremlin • Swan • Rose Trellis • Cradle with Garlands • Alexander Palace • Peacock  • Standart Yacht • Alexander III Commemorative • Colonnade • Alexander III Equestrian • Fifteenth Anniversary • Bay Tree • Tsarevich • Napoleonic • Romanov Tercentenary • Winter • Mosaic • Grisaille  • Red Cross with Triptych  • Red Cross with Imperial Portraits • Steel Military • Order of St. George • Karelian Birch • Constellation (unfinished)
Fabergé Kelch Eggs
Twelve Panel • Pine Cone • Apple Blossom • Rocaille • Bonbonnière • Chanticleer
Other Fabergé eggs
Blue Striped Enamel  • Duchess of Marlborough • Rothschild • Youssoupov • Nobel Ice • Resurrection • Spring Flowers