Our visit to the Faberge Museum was a highlight of our trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. “The museum’s collection contains more than 4,000 works of decorative applied and fine arts, including gold and silver items, paintings, porcelain, and bronze.” And a Collection of 9 Faberge Easter Eggs.
This description of the Fabergé Eggs comes from a plaque in the “Blue Room” at the Museum.
The House of Fabergé, founded in 1842 in St. Petersburg, manufactured a wide range of items, from unique pieces made by order of the Russian royal family, European monarchs, and Eastern rulers to mass-produced goods (jewelry, silver utensils, and gemstone carving sculptures). The peak of the creative work of Carl Fabergé, who headed the family business in 1872, is considered to be his Easter eggs with surprises inside, made to the order of the last of the Romanov’s – the Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II.
The House of Fabergé created 50 Imperial eggs altogether. Each one of them took a year’s worth of work, starting just after Easter, and was barely finished by Holy Week a year later. Carl Fabergé personally delivered each new Easter masterpiece to the Tsar. Each new egg was striking for its novelty, the originality of its composition, and its virtuoso jewelry work.
All of the descriptions and some photos of the 9 Faberge Easter Eggs located at the Faberge Museum are from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faberge
The Hen Egg, 1885
The Jeweled Hen Egg was the first in a series of 54 jeweled eggs made for the Russian Imperial family under Fabergé’s supervision. It was delivered to Alexander III in 1885. The Tsarina and the Tsar enjoyed the egg so much that Alexander III ordered a new egg from Fabergé for his wife every Easter thereafter.
Renaissance Egg, 1894
Presented by Emperor Alexander III to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, this Renaissance-style object was inspired by an oval agate casket by Le Roy in the Dresden Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vaults), the museum founded by Augustus the Strong in 1723.
Rosebud Egg, 1895
This egg, applied with diamond-set Cupid’s arrows symbolizing Love, was the first of the series presented by Emperor Nicholas II to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a few months after their marriage. It is crafted from multi-coloured gold, decorated with bands of a rose-cut diamond. The rosebud surprise is of opaque yellow and green enamel. At its apex, the egg has a miniature portrait of the young Emperor.
Coronation Egg, 1897
This, perhaps Faberge’s most iconic egg, was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, as a memento of her entry into Moscow on May 26th, the day of their Coronation in the Uspensky Cathedral. Its outer shell is made of multi-colored gold, embellished with translucent yellow guilloché enamel and black enamel double-headed eagles set with diamonds, a design recalling the heavy Cloth of Gold robe she wore at the ceremony. The 3 11/16 in. (9.4cm) coach took craftsman Georg Stein 13 months to complete.
Lilies of the Valley Egg, 1898
This pink guilloché enamel Art Nouveau egg, presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, is virtually smothered with pearl- and diamond-set lilies of the valley spray, her favorite flower, and is designed in her most-liked style. It stands on four cabriolet feet entwined with diamond-set foliage. The surprise, three miniatures of their eldest daughters, Olga and Tatiana, surmounted by a diamond- and ruby-set Imperial Crown, appears when one of the pearls is twisted.
Cockerel Egg, 1900
The Cockerel egg (also called the Cuckoo Clock egg) was crafted by Peter Carl Fabergé in his Imperial Fabergé eggs set. The egg was given in 1900 by Tsar Nicholas II to Empress Maria Feodoronova as a gift. The egg has a mechanism on the top rear that enables its bird to come out and move.
Fifteenth Anniversary Egg, (1911)
The Fifteenth Anniversary Egg is an Imperial Fabergé egg, one of a series of fifty-two jeweled enameled Easter eggs made under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé for the Russian Imperial family.
It was an Easter 1911 gift for Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna from her husband, Tsar Nicholas II, who had a standing order of two Fabergé Easter eggs every year, one for his mother and one for his wife. Its 1911 counterpart presented to the Dowager Empress is the Bay Tree Egg.
Bay Tree Egg, (1911)
The Bay Tree egg (also known as the Orange Tree egg) is a jeweled nephrite and enameled Fabergé egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé in 1911, for Nicholas II of Russia who presented the egg to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, on 12 April 1911.
Turning a tiny lever disguised as a fruit, hidden among the leaves of the bay tree, activates the hinged circular top of the tree, and a feathered songbird rises and flaps its wings, turns its head, opens its beak, and sings.
Order of St George Egg, 1916
Emperor Nicholas II presented the Order of St George Egg to his mother, the Dowager Empress. After the onset of The Great War, precious materials were rare: this, one of Faberge’s two last completed eggs, is of silver and mat opalescent white enamel with no further embellishments. It is set with miniature portraits of Nicholas II and of his son, Alexei, concealed beneath the Badge of the Order of St. George and a silver medal of the Order, respectively. This much-coveted order, only awarded for great bravery on the Front, was bestowed upon the Emperor on October 25, 1916. It is the only egg that left Russia during the Revolution, accompanying the Dowager Empress into exile.
