What was inside the first Easter Faberge. Faberge eggs: secrets of the imperial collection. Other Christian Traditions

Faberge is today, perhaps, one of the most famous jewelry brands. And all thanks to the precious eggs that were produced by this jewelry house for the Russian imperial family. Today, these works of art are a huge rarity, surrounded by secrets, and their value reaches tens of millions of dollars. In our review, little-known facts about the most famous eggs in the world.

1. Imperial Easter traditions

tradition to paint Easter eggs existed in Russia since ancient times. The imperial family followed suit. But in 1885, Tsar Alexander III, without suspecting it, somewhat transformed this tradition. Deciding to surprise his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, he gave her a special gift - an egg with a secret. It was a precious white-enamelled egg with a golden band running across it. It opened, and inside was a golden "yolk". In it, in turn, sat a golden hen, inside of which there was a ruby crown and pendant. The Empress was delighted with such a gift, and Alexander III presented his wife with a new precious egg every Easter. This tradition was continued by the son of Alexander III, Nicholas II, who on Easter holidays gave precious eggs to his mother and wife.

2. The main rule is a surprise inside

The author of the Easter eggs ordered by Russian emperors was Peter Carl Faberge, a jeweler. He was given complete freedom of creativity, he could create precious eggs on any subject. But there was still one rule: each egg should be with a surprise. Therefore, each Faberge egg contained a tiny miracle: a tiny diamond copy of the royal crown, a miniature ruby pendant, a mechanical swan, an elephant, a gold miniature of the palace, 11 tiny portraits on an easel, a ship model, an exact working copy of the royal carriage, and much more.

4. Peter Carl Faberge - Russian jeweler with European roots

The famous jeweler was born in Russia in St. Petersburg on May 30, 1846. Father - Gustav Faberge was from Pärnu (Estonia) and came from a German family, mother - Charlotte Jungstedt, was the daughter of a Danish artist. In 1841, Faberge Sr. received the title of "Jewellery Master" and in 1842 founded a jewelry company in St. Petersburg on Bolshaya Morskaya Street at No. 12. Talent young man was so bright and outstanding that at the age of 24 in 1870 he was able to take over his father's firm.

In 1882, the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition was held in Moscow. It was there that Emperor Alexander III and his wife Maria Feodorovna noticed the works of Peter Carl Faberge. So Faberge Jr. received the patronage of the royal family and the title of "jeweler of His Imperial Majesty and jeweler of the Imperial Hermitage."

Faberge products were also famous in Europe. Numerous royal and princely relatives of the Russian imperial family in Great Britain, Denmark, Greece, Bulgaria received jewelry as a gift, they valued it very much and passed it on by inheritance.

The revolution of 1917 forced Faberge to close the firm. He emigrated to Switzerland, where he died in 1920.

5. The Bolsheviks, unwittingly, saved the Faberge eggs

After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks, trying to replenish the treasury of the "world's first communist state," sold Russian artistic treasures. They plundered churches, sold paintings by old masters from the Hermitage Museum and took up crowns, tiaras, necklaces and Faberge eggs that belonged to the Emperor's family.

In 1925, a catalog of valuables of the imperial court (crowns, wedding crowns, a scepter, orb, tiaras, necklaces and other valuables, including the famous Faberge eggs) was sent to all foreign representatives in the USSR. Part of the Diamond Fund was sold to the English antiquary Norman Weiss. In 1928, seven "low-value" Faberge eggs and 45 other items were seized from the Diamond Fund.

However, it was thanks to this that the Faberge eggs were saved from being melted down. . Thus, one of the most incredible creations of Faberge, the Peacock Egg, was preserved. Inside the masterpiece of crystal and gold was an enamelled peacock. Moreover, this bird was mechanical - when it was removed from the golden branch, the peacock raised its tail like a real bird and could even walk.

6. Missing bag egg

In total, 50 precious eggs were made for the Russian imperial family. The fate of seven of them is unknown today, most likely they are in private collections. The fate of the travel bag egg, created in the Faberge workshop in 1889, is also shrouded in mystery. The last time this egg was allegedly seen in one of the London shops in 1949. According to rumors, it was sold to an unknown person for $1250. Today, the cost of Faberge eggs reaches $ 30 million.

7. One egg was purchased as scrap metal

One of the lost imperial Easter eggs was found in a completely amazing way. An American bought a gold egg studded with precious stones for $14,000 to scrap and wanted to resell it for a better price. But when there were no buyers, he decided to look for an outlandish souvenir on the Internet and was surprised to find that it was the work of Faberge. After examination, it was confirmed that this is one of the long-lost imperial Easter eggs. Instead of a $500 profit, the dealer made about $33 million by selling the egg to a private collector.

8. Queen Elizabeth II owns three Faberge Imperial Eggs

There are three Faberge imperial Easter eggs in the collection of the British Royal Family: "Colonnade", "Basket of Flowers" and "Mosaic". Particular attention is drawn to the "Flower Basket", the flowers in which look fresh and amazingly realistic.

9. Eggs of the Kelch family

When the Kelch couple divorced, ex-wife The entrepreneur took her Faberge collection with her to Paris. Six eggs ended up in the United States. Initially, the eggs were mistaken for items from the imperial collection, and only in 1979 it was established that all seven eggs belonged to the Kelch collection.

10. Return of Faberge

After the revolution, the Faberge brand was resold several times. Unfortunately, the big name was used by a toilet cleaner, shampoo and cologne company. The last company to acquire the brand, Pallinghurst Resources, decided in 2007 to restore it to its former glory by relaunching jewelry. Two years later, through the efforts of Peter Faberge's granddaughters Sarah and Tatiana, the world saw new Faberge jewelry for the first time since 1917. These products are clearly far from those that were made at the beginning of the 20th century, but, nevertheless, today you can buy jewelry from $ 8,000 - $ 600,000.

"Faberge Eggs" is a household name. This symbol of luxury, once sold by the Bolsheviks for next to nothing, today costs fabulous money. Private collectors pay millions for the right to own famous treasures.

Origin

We can say that Carl Faberge is a hereditary jeweler. His father opened his own company in St. Petersburg in 1842. The family came to Russia from Estonia, and the ancestors of the famous jeweler were French Huguenots who fled to Germany from the unfriendly policy of the Sun King (Louis XIV). Faberge's father's workshop did nothing outstanding: brooches and tiaras, generously studded with precious stones, were in constant demand among representatives of the wealthy merchant class, but that was all.

Gustav tried his best to educate and provide for his first child, so Carl Faberge studied at the most prestigious educational institutions in Europe, studied jewelry in Frankfurt, and then returned to Russia and at the age of 24 headed the family business. Some researchers claim that he was extremely gifted in jewelry, others are sure that the outstanding talent of Karl Gustavovich was purely administrative. But the manager, as they would say now, he was from God.

Takeoff

When in 1882 an art and industrial exhibition took place in Moscow, Faberge was lucky: the products of the enterprise attracted the attention of his wife. From that moment on, fruitful cooperation between the jeweler and the monarch's family began. It must be said that the emperor gave away expensive jewelry, not only in kilograms - in tons. It was required to present gifts during official visits to the rulers of other countries, and skillfully made sets, caskets, jewelry and various trinkets with the Faberge brand were suitable here.

Soon the company received international recognition, having won the exhibition in Nuremberg (1885). The judges chose items that replicate the gold jewelry of the Scythians. In the same year, the first Faberge egg was made for the Romanovs.

Emperor's family

The Empress favored the jeweler since 1884: she was presented with a souvenir depicting a golden basket with pearl lilies of the valley. Maria Fyodorovna found the thing charming, and we can say that thanks to this, Carl Faberge opened a new direction in the activity of the enterprise. Since then, a variety of fantasies, embodied in stone, gold or bone, have become his signature feature.

It must be said that the famous jeweler most of all appreciated the artistic side of the issue, and not all of his products were precious. Various useful little things were made at his enterprises, such as handles for umbrellas, bells or stone seals. According to some sources, the company even made Faberge silver sets, and they were really famous throughout Russia (and not only).

artistic side

The jeweler introduced the fashion to use not only precious stones and metals, but also simpler materials: crystal, bone, malachite, jasper, etc. At first, the company's staff did not have enough qualified personnel to implement all the ideas that Carl Faberge was filled with. The works had to be ordered from the Ural masters. But gradually many talented jewelers, engravers and artists became full-time employees of the enterprise. Among them were masters of the highest class, Faberge allowed them to put their own brand on their works.

The working day of the employees was just a slave: they had to work from seven in the morning to eleven in the evening, and on Sundays - until one in the afternoon. Surprisingly, at the same time, Carl Faberge enjoyed the favor of his subordinates: they did not leave him, did not organize competing firms, although many had such an opportunity. It must be said that the famous jeweler paid a generous salary, he did not leave old and sick workers to the mercy of fate, he did not skimp on praise.

The company had its own recognizable style. Another feature was a variety of enamels that delight the eye with more than 120 shades, and the technique of the so-called guilloche enamel has not been reproduced.

Imperial collection eggs

Carl Faberge received the widest fame and posthumous fame thanks to which his company made every year for the imperial family. The beginning of the tradition was laid by chance. The Tsar asked the jeweler to make a surprise gift for Her Majesty Maria Feodorovna. Faberge was given freedom of choice - this is how the first egg of the imperial collection appeared.

The first sample was a golden egg covered with white enamel on the outside. Inside it was placed a yolk and a colored chicken. She, in turn, also had a secret: inside the bird was a tiny imperial crown and a ruby egg, which was subsequently lost.

The idea was not original: such souvenirs are still kept among the exhibits of several European museums (perhaps, Carl Faberge drew inspiration there).

The Empress was delighted with the gift. From that moment on, Faberge had to present a new masterpiece to the court every year, but with two conditions. Firstly, an egg with a secret could only be made for royal family. Secondly, it had to be absolutely original.

When Nicholas II came to the throne, the tradition continued, but now Faberge created two souvenirs: for the wife of the monarch and for the dowager empress.

Bypassing the royal ban

Many years later, it became known that the jeweler nevertheless circumvented the prohibition of his august patron: seven eggs, very similar to the originals from the royal treasury, turned out to be the property of the wife of a certain gold miner. What was to blame - the fabulous wealth of Mrs. Kelch or her lovely eyes - is not known for certain. In addition to them, there are at least eight more Faberge eggs made by private orders. The fact that this fact is not documented is an excellent cover for scammers.

The house of Carl Faberge spent almost a year to make each masterpiece. The most talented artists were involved in creating sketches, and the type of the future gift was kept in the strictest confidence.

In the process of making the royal surprise, Faberge did not pursue profit: in different years, Easter eggs cost the emperor different amounts and were made from different, sometimes completely inexpensive materials. So, in 1916, the monarch received a steel egg, for which four cartridges served as a stand.

The owners of the preserved treasures

They talk about 50, 52 and even 56 copies that Faberge made for the imperial family, but some of them were lost. The Bolsheviks, having come to power, not only robbed the imperial treasury, but also sold it for nothing. The location of only 46 of them is now known.

In 2013, a truly royal gift to the residents of St. Petersburg was made by the Russian oligarch Maxim Vekselberg. He bought the world's largest collection of eggs from the Forbes family and opened the Faberge Museum, where 9 out of 15 copies can be seen by everyone. Another 10 masterpieces are among the exhibits, 13 are in museums in the United States of America, 2 in Switzerland and 13 more are scattered in private collections (several belong to

Another Faberge Museum was opened in Baden-Baden, where eggs made in 1917 are displayed: from (intended for the Dowager Empress) and glass-crystal (for Alexandra Feodorovna). The authenticity of the latter raises some doubts, since the same was found in the storerooms of the Mineralogical Museum in Moscow, but the owner of the masterpiece, another Russian billionaire Alexander Ivanov, assures that he is the owner of the original.

Long before the advent of Christianity, the ancient peoples considered the egg a prototype of the Universe - the world surrounding man was born from it. The attitude to the egg as a symbol of birth was reflected in the beliefs and customs of the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. And the Christian custom of giving each other Easter eggs is rooted in antiquity. Even in pagan times, this item had a huge symbolic meaning He was associated with life itself. An ancient Latin proverb says "All living things [come] from an egg."

In ancient Jerusalem, the egg was a symbol of the rebirth of nature on the vernal equinox. And this philosophical image passed into the Christian tradition, in which the Easter egg symbolizes new life, its rebirth.

According to legend, the first Easter egg Mary Magdalene presented to the Roman Emperor Tiberius. This happened shortly after the ascension of Jesus Christ. Mary Magdalene went to see the emperor. In those days, it was customary, when coming to the emperor, to bring him gifts. The wealthy brought jewelry, and the poor brought what they could. Therefore, Mary Magdalene, who had nothing but faith in Jesus, handed the emperor Tiberius a chicken egg with an exclamation:
"Christ is risen!" The emperor, doubting what was said, noted that no one can rise from the dead, and this is just as hard to believe as that a white egg can turn red. Before Tiberius had time to finish these words, the egg began to change color from white to bright red.
For bearers of faith in Christ, red-painted eggs symbolized the blood shed by Christ and His death. Under the red shell of the egg is a white protein, which serves as a symbol of the Resurrection and the life of Christ.

In Orthodox everyday life, Easter eggs are not only painted, but also intricately painted. Such eggs are reminiscent of the scourging of Christ with the lines of their patterns. Therefore, it is necessary to paint and paint eggs on a special day in Holy Week (week) - on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday

Fun and games with Easter eggs

For centuries, the favorite Easter game in Russia was "ball rolling" They arranged this game like this: they installed a wooden or cardboard “skating rink” and around it they freed up a flat place on which they laid out painted eggs, toys, plain souvenirs. Playing children approached the “skating rink” in turn and each rolled their own egg. The object that the testicle touched became the winner.

The children loved and "clink glasses" eggs with each other, hitting the opponent's egg with the blunt or sharp end of a dyed hard-boiled egg. The winner was the one whose egg did not break.

Why is the Easter Bunny delivering colored eggs at Easter?

There is a legend about this
At the time when the ark plowed the boundless waters that created the Great Flood, it came across the bottom of the top of the mountain, and a gap appeared in the vessel. And the ark would have gone into the deep waters, if not for the hare, which closed the hole with its short tail. It is in memory of the brave coward that legends were born. Children who are waiting for the Easter bunny or Easter bunny are sure that it is he who, in a magical meadow in the forests of the German lands, cooks magical herbs in pots on firefly pollen, with which he manually paints each Easter egg. This animal among the Germanic peoples in ancient times was considered one of the symbols of fertility and prosperity. Gradually, the hare, as one of the emblems of Easter, appeared in England.

Interestingly, the custom of giving Easter eggs to each other exists in both Catholic and Orthodox countries. For example, in Italy and Germany, it is customary to bring chocolate eggs wrapped in multi-colored foil in a basket. Moreover, the German and Italian Easter basket, as a rule, also contains a chocolate hare.

1. The first egg was made in 1885 by order of Alexander III

The tradition of painting Easter eggs has existed in Russia since ancient times. The imperial family followed suit. But in 1885, Tsar Alexander III, without suspecting it, somewhat transformed this tradition. Deciding to surprise his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, he gave her a special gift - an egg with a secret.

It was a precious white-enamelled egg with a golden band running across it. It opened, and inside was a golden "yolk". In it, in turn, sat a golden hen, inside of which there was a ruby crown and pendant. The Empress was delighted with such a gift.

2. The first egg had a prototype

Actually, Faberge did not come up with this Easter matryoshka himself. According to the idea of Alexander III, the Easter egg with a secret was supposed to be a free interpretation of an egg made in early XVIII century, 3 copies of which are known today.

They are located: in Rosenborg Castle (Copenhagen); in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna) and in a private collection (formerly in the Green Vaults art gallery, Dresden). In all the mentioned instances of eggs, a chicken is hidden, opening which, you can find a crown, and in it - a ring. It is believed that the emperor wanted to please his wife with a surprise that would remind her of a well-known product from the Danish royal treasury.

3. All Faberge eggs contain a surprise.

The empress was so fascinated by the gift that Faberge, who made the egg, instantly turned into a court jeweler and received a lifetime order. He had to produce an egg every year. There was only one condition - the egg must contain some kind of surprise. The fact that it should be made in a single copy was not even discussed.

Since then, Alexander III presented his wife with a new precious egg every Easter. This tradition was continued by the son of Alexander III, Nicholas II, who on Easter holidays gave precious eggs to his mother and wife.

Each Faberge egg contained a tiny miracle: a miniature copy of the royal crown, a ruby pendant, a mechanical swan, an elephant, a golden mini copy of the palace, 11 tiny portraits on an easel, a ship model, an exact working copy of the royal carriage, etc.

4. The Bolsheviks underestimated Faberge eggs and thus saved them

In 1928, seven “low-value” Faberge eggs and 45 other items were seized from the Diamond Fund.

However, it was thanks to this assessment, unflattering for the creator of jewelry masterpieces, that Faberge eggs were saved from being melted down.

Thus, one of the most incredible creations of Faberge, the Peacock Egg, was preserved. Inside the masterpiece of crystal and gold was an enamelled peacock. Moreover, this bird was mechanical - when it was removed from the golden branch, the peacock raised its tail like a real bird and could even walk.

5. The fate of several eggs is unknown

In total, Faberge made 52 eggs for the Russian Imperial Court, 19 others were made by order of private individuals. After the 1917 revolution, many were lost. 62 eggs have survived to this day, of which 10 items are in the Kremlin collection, some belong to the Fabergé jewelry house, the rest are in museums and private collections.

The location of several imperial eggs is not known for certain. For example, the fate of the travel bag egg, created in the Faberge workshop in 1889, is shrouded in mystery.

The last time this egg was allegedly seen in one of the London shops in 1949. According to rumors, it was sold to an unknown person for $1250.

6. One of the imperial eggs was bought by a buyer of precious metals for 8,000 pounds.

One of the lost imperial Easter eggs was found in a completely amazing way. This egg, which belonged to Empress Maria Feodorovna and then disappeared without a trace for more than 90 years, was purchased at a flea market in the United States by a buyer of precious scrap.

The last time this Faberge piece was seen was in 1922 in Moscow. An egg made of gold and adorned with diamonds and sapphires, 8.2 cm high, was confiscated by the Bolsheviks. Its further fate remained unknown for a long time, until in 1964 a unique work of jewelry art went under the hammer at a New York auction called "gold egg-shaped watch" - for $ 2,450.

An American who bought a golden egg for 8 thousand pounds ($ 14,000) could not know its true value. For several years he tried to sell the egg by keeping it in his kitchen. Tired of unsuccessful attempts, he tried to find out something about the manufacturer and typed in the search engine the name engraved on the built-in watch. That's how he came across an article by Kieran McCarthy, director of the royal jewelery house Wartski. He called McCarthy and then came to London with pictures of his purchase.

The expert immediately recognized them as one of the eggs created by a famous jeweler for members of the Russian imperial family.

“Probably, Indiana Jones experienced similar feelings when he found the lost ark,” the head of the jewelry house described his emotions to journalists.

7. Queen Elizabeth II owns three Faberge Imperial Eggs

There are three Faberge imperial Easter eggs in the collection of the British Royal Family: "Colonnade", "Basket of Flowers" and "Mosaic". Flower basket - the most famous masterpiece in this trio. The miniature bouquet of flowers is incredibly realistic!

The British Faberge collection is one of the largest in the world. In addition to the legendary eggs, it contains several hundred masterpieces of jewelry: caskets, frames, animal figurines and personal adornments of members of the Imperial Houses of Russia, Great Britain and Denmark. Despite the size of the British collection, this is only a small part of the 200,000 pieces of jewelry produced by the Faberge jewelry house.

Who want to be a millionaire? 10/07/17. Questions and answers.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Who want to be a millionaire?"

Questions and answers:

Yuri Stoyanov and Igor Zolotovitsky

Fireproof Amount: 200,000 rubles.

Questions:

1. What fate befell the teremok in the fairy tale of the same name?

2. What does the chorus of the song in the film by Svetlana Druzhinina call for for the midshipmen?

3. What button can not be found on the remote control of the cabin of a modern elevator?

4. What expression means the same as "to walk"?

5. What is stroganina made of?

6. In what operating mode of the washing machine is the centrifugal force especially important?

7. What is the phrase from the movie " Magic lamp Aladdin "became the name of the album of the group" Auktyon "?

8. Where do the sailors of the sailboat take their places on the command “Whistle everyone up!”?

9. Which of the four portraits in the foyer of the Taganka Theater was added by Lyubimov at the insistence of the district party committee?

10. The flag of which state is not tricolor?

11. Who can rightfully be called a hereditary sculptor?

12. What is the name of the model of the human body - visual material for future doctors?

13. What was inside the first Easter egg made by Carl Faberge?

Right answers:

1. fell apart

2. do not hang your nose

3. "Let's go!"

4. on foot

5. salmon

7. “All is calm in Baghdad”

8. upper deck

9. Konstantin Stanislavsky

10. Albania

11. Alexandra Rukavishnikova

12. phantom

13. golden hen

The players did not answer the 13th question, but took the winnings in the amount of 400,000 rubles.

_____________________________________

Svetlana Zeynalova and Timur Solovyov

Fireproof Amount: 200,000 rubles.

Questions:

2. Where, according to the catchphrase, does a road paved with good intentions lead?

3. What is used for sifting flour?

4. How to continue Pushkin's line: "He forced himself to respect ..."?

5. What appeared this year for the first time in the history of the football Confederations Cup?

6. In what city is the unfinished Sagrada Familia located?

7. How does the line of a popular song end: “The leaves were falling, and the blizzard was chalk ...”?

8. What kind of creativity did Arkady Velyurov do in the film "Pokrovsky Gates"?

9, the website says. The addition of what, as it is believed, should the fat woman plant contribute?

10. What did Parisians see in 1983 thanks to Pierre Cardin?

11. Who killed the huge serpent Python?

12. What was the rank of 50 Swiss francs in 2016?

13. What are the adherents of the cargo cult in Melanesia building from natural materials?

Right answers:

1. profile

4. And I couldn’t think of a better one

5. video replays for judges

6. in Barcelona

7. Where have you been?

8. sang verses

10. play "Juno and Avos"

11. Apollo

13. runways

The players could not answer question 13 correctly, but left with a fireproof amount.

Good evening, dear readers site Sprint-Answer. Today on the air of Channel One there is a TV game called. Overview of the game, as well as all questions and answers in the game "Who wants to be a millionaire?" for 10/07/2107 can be viewed by clicking on the link above.

And in this article we will take a closer look at the thirteenth question for the players of the first part of today's TV game. The players refused to answer this question and decided to take the money.

What was inside the first Easter egg made by Carl Faberge?

The correct answer to the question about the first Easter egg made by the famous Carl Faberge is highlighted in blue and bold. In the meantime, some information from Wikipedia.

Faberge eggs - a series of jewelry by Carl Faberge. The series was created between 1885 and 1917. for the Russian imperial family and private buyers. In total, seventy-one copies are known to have been created, of which fifty-four are imperial.

Carl Faberge and his firm's jewelers created the first egg in 1885. It was ordered by Emperor Alexander III as an Easter surprise for his wife Maria Feodorovna. The so-called “Chicken” is covered on the outside with white enamel imitating a shell, and inside, in a “yolk” made of matte gold, is a chicken made of colored gold. Inside the hen, in turn, are hidden a small copy of the imperial crown made of gold with diamonds and a chain with a ruby pendant.

emerald ring
portrait of the empress
wheat grain
golden hen

The correct answer to the TV game question is: the golden hen.

Easter, Great Day, is the most significant and important holiday in the calendar of the Eastern and Western Slavs, while among the Southern Slavs this is St. George's Day in spring. Traditionally celebrated for three days; however, Easter motifs are widely represented in the mythology and rituals of the entire Bright Week, the Passion Week preceding it (when preparations were made for the holiday) and the Radonitskaya Week following it.

Today, on the most important Christian holiday, we want to briefly tell you the story of Faberge eggs.

The exquisite works of Faberge survived a tragic and blood-drenched history that scattered them around the world.

What can be found inside an Easter egg? A bar of chocolate? A fluffy, yellow Easter toy chicken? Over the course of 30 years, the empresses of Tsarist Russia have learned to expect a little more from Easter gifts. Inside a pure white, life-sized egg - fashioned in enamel, not chocolate - a gift from Tsar Alexander III to Tsarina Maria Feodorovna in 1885, was a golden yolk hiding a golden hen. Inside the golden hen were a diamond and a miniature of the imperial crown.

It was only the first of 50 decorative Easter eggs made for the Russian royal family by Peter Carl Faberge's St. Petersburg studio between 1885 and 1917, when the October Revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power.
The eggs were made of gold covered with fine layers of lacquer and studded with precious stones.

The phrase "Faberge Eggs" has become synonymous with luxury and an emblem of the wealth of the imperial house and pre-revolutionary Russia. As well as the name of the type of jewelry in the form of eggs with surprises and one of the symbols of Russia. Eggs were made of gold, silver, precious stones. Precious enamels and fine jewelry work were used.

Romanovs

One of the Faberge eggs contains a model of the Trans-Siberian Express - a celebration in honor of the railway, its tiny locomotive, complete with a diamond headlight, pulls five golden cars, their windows are rock crystal and engraved with infinitely small inscriptions on the cars "direct Siberian message", "for ladies”, “for smokers”, “for non-smokers”, “church”. With the help of a small key, the train can be set in motion.

Often masters of the Faberge company experimented with non-traditional materials - rock crystal, precious woods, rare minerals. Each egg took almost a year to make. The structure of the Faberge firm was ahead of its time: the jewelry firms included in the concern were quite independent in their work.

Many jewelers working for Faberge owned their own firms, but considered it an honor to participate in the execution of the imperial order. 62 eggs have survived to this day. Most of them are kept in state museums. 54 imperial eggs are known: 46 pieces made by the royal order have survived to this day; the rest are known from descriptions, accounts, and old photographs and are thought to be lost.

Carl Faberge was a hereditary jeweler, traveled around Europe and studied in Dresden, after which he began to master the jewelry business with the Frankfurt master Josef Friedman. After that, he returned to Russia. At the age of 24, in 1870, he took over his father's firm. In 1882, at the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition in Moscow, the products of his company attracted the attention of Emperor Alexander III. So Karl received the patronage of the royal family and the title of "jeweler of His Imperial Majesty and jeweler of the Imperial Hermitage."

All the eggs made by the firm of Carl Faberge for the imperial family were kept in a special room in the Anichkov Palace. During the 1917 revolution, they were stolen by the Bolsheviks and transferred to the Kremlin Armory. However, seven of the eggs went missing and have not been found to this day.

One of the eggs was not finished due to the 1917 revolution. The Constellation Egg was unique in its kind, as rare earth minerals were used for it. Now the egg is stored in the Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow.

Although the House of Fabergé was nationalized by the Bolsheviks after the revolution, Carl's son Peter left the country and died in Switzerland in 1920. To purchase foreign currency for the young Soviet Union, Stalin had to sell about 14 eggs, which ended up in European collections.

Nine eggs from the original collection were sold to Malcolm Forbes and have been in New York for a long time. That was until they were bought by the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who spent more than $100 million on the collection.

Rothschild egg. In 2007, an egg from the private collection of the Rothschild family broke two auction records at once as the most expensive chronograph and as the most expensive Faberge egg sold. The sale amounted to 8.9 million euros.

Incredibly, in 2004, one of the missing eggs was found completely by accident. Lucky Anonymous bought it at a flea market in the middle of scrap gold. Imagine his surprise when he found out the true cost of the egg - about thirty million dollars.

Traditions continue. The House of Faberge has recently revived its Easter tradition. In February 2015, the firm created an egg for Qatar's ruling dynasty. The modern egg is made of mother-of-pearl, gray pearls, diamonds and white gold.

Faberge Easter eggs are delight and luxury, an object of desire and a measure of wealth, an icon of jewelry art.

Carl Faberge - artist and entrepreneur, Supplier of the Imperial Court, Court Jeweler of the Emperor of All Russia, the King of Sweden and Norway, the King of Great Britain, the King of Siam, was awarded the Russian Orders of Stanislav and St. Anna, the Bulgarian Commander's Order and the French Order of the Legion of Honor for creating highly artistic works of art, gold medals at the All-Russian and World Exhibitions, - was able to create the largest jewelry company in Russia, whose activities determined the development of the jewelry industry in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, a time when St. Petersburg was considered one of the jewelry capitals of the world.
The year of birth of the first Faberge Easter egg is 1885. It was ordered to the jeweler by Alexander III as an Easter gift to his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. Moreover, when placing an order, the emperor did not say anything about how the testicle should look, but what happened delighted both the royal couple and their entire court, and then all of Europe. From then on, the imperial order for Fabergé Easter eggs became a regular occurrence, a tradition that lasted until the 1917 revolution.
Masters worked on their creation - Mikhail Perkhin, Heinrich Wigstrem, Vasily Zuev, August Holstrem, who all together performed 54 Easter eggs, never repeating themselves.
Today it is known for certain that in the period from 1885 to 1917, Faberge created 54 eggs for the imperial family. Ten of them were made during the life of Alexander III as a gift to Maria Feodorovna, the remaining 44, already commissioned by Nicholas II, for the Dowager Empress and his wife, the last Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. None of these creations repeated each other, and what surprise would be hidden in the new testicle was kept in the strictest confidence. Answering the question of crowned clients what the new Easter gift would be, Faberge usually limited himself to a laconic phrase that sounded something like this: "You will be satisfied."
In addition to those made for the Romanovs, which became the property of the royal family, Faberge eggs came to Nobel, the American Duchess of Marlborough, and the aristocrat Yusupov. Irkutsk merchant, gold miner Varvara Bazanova owned seven eggs from Faberge.

No. 1. Hen. 1885

On May 1, 1885, on the day of Easter, Tsar Alexander III handed his beloved Tsarina Maria Feodorovna a completely uninteresting, white enameled egg. It was approximately 7 cm and looked like a large duck egg. It was only when the empress opened the tsar's gift that it revealed its true nature: like in a complex nesting doll, it contained a yolk made of gold, inside the yolk was hidden a golden chicken sitting on a nest of golden straw, a miniature copy of the imperial crown with diamonds, inside of which lay a tiny ruby pendant.
Alexander really wanted to distract his wife from terrorist threats, distract her from worrying about her position. He wanted to immerse her in memories of happy childhood in Denmark, when Mary was still called Dagmar and when everything was still cloudless and carefree. As a child, Princess Dagmar was shown a wonderful egg from the royal collection dating back to the early 18th century. It was of ivory rather than the enamel Faberge had used and the last item to be discovered was a ring rather than a pendant, but in any case the pieces were very similar.
6 weeks after the gift, the royal court issued the following announcement: “His Imperial Majesty gave his highest permission to the St. coat of arms on a shop sign. The crown and pendant have not been preserved. Sold by the Kremlin in the 1920s.

No. 2. Hen with a sapphire pendant 1886. The image has not been preserved

Unfortunately, there is no image, as well as the egg itself. The egg was supposedly transferred to the warehouse of the Kremlin Armory for storage in 1917.
A golden hen studded with rose-cut diamonds, holding a sapphire egg in its beak and sitting in a basket made of gold and diamonds. There is no mention of how the gift was valued, except that in 1887 the Tsar ordered a third egg. Then orders became regular. A tradition has arisen.
Every year the jeweler gained more and more freedom in fulfilling the annual order. Only three rules were set by the king: the gift must be oval, the design must not be repeated, and each egg must contain a surprise for the empress. Other than that, even the king himself could not have known more. Faberge answered all questions kindly: "Your Majesty will be pleased." The inquisitive princess once received a caustic answer: "This year the egg will be square."

Pictured is the pendant. Gold, jade, diamonds. House of C. Faberge, workmaster M. Perkhin Russia, St. Petersburg, before 1898

№3 Blue egg-clock with a snake.

It was made in 1895 and became the first of the imperial Faberge eggs presented by Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Magnificent creation of Faberge in the technique of quatre couleurs in gold. Enamels of reference quality in several colors: transparent royal blue, opaque pearl white and the famous "oyster" shade. Guilloche, diamonds. h-18.3 cm. The design of the egg goes back to the best traditions of Sèvres. A snake of gold, “implanted with diamonds”, wraps around the body. She is motionless, her head pointing to a white thin panel with Roman numerals. Hidden under the panel is a complex rotating watch mechanism. Maestro Faberge was incredibly proud of the fact that only precious stones and metals mined in Siberia and the Urals were used for this egg. The object was sold through "Antiques", as usual, without drawing up a contract of sale in 1927. For many years, the WARTSKI gallery has been looking for a buyer. And found. Tycoon Stavros Niarkos, owner of an entire fleet and shipyards, purchased the egg in 1972. Finally, in 1974, this Faberge object found a safe haven. The cunning Greek presented an egg to Prince Rainier III of Monaco on the occasion of the silver jubilee of Grimaldi's accession to the throne. Immediately, the clock-egg became an object of admiration for Rainier III's wife, Princess Grace, who took it with her on official visits. In the palace, the clock was invariably kept in her private quarters. The egg-clock with a snake got a second name: "Princess Grace's Clock". After the tragic death of his wife in 1982, Prince Rainier ordered her chambers to be sealed. So that everything that the Princess cherished remained intact. In April 2005, bon vivant Prince Albert II succeeded to the throne. The object has been exhibited since 2008.

No. 4 Egg "Caucasian", 1893.

Technique - transparent enamel on a guilloché background, watercolor painting on bone, chasing, casting.
Matilda Geddings Gray Collection, New Orleans (N. Orleans Museum of Art)
Origin: Presented by Emperor Alexander III to his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna for Easter 1893.
Hammer Galleries, New York, acquired from the Soviet government around 1927.
In October 1890, the younger brother of Nikolai, Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich, began to have an alarming cough, later it became clear that George had tuberculosis. He spent the rest of his short life in an imperial hunting lodge in the Caucasus, where the climate was thought to be healthier than the disastrous winters and precarious summers of central Russia. As a child, George was a fair joker. After his death in 1899 at the age of only 28, Nicholas, by then Tsar, occasionally chuckled as he recalled some of his particularly successful adventures. The forced exile of Georgy thousands of miles away from the Faberge family was expressed in The Caucasian Egg. Attached to the top is a portrait of the Grand Duke, which must be viewed through a flat diamond, and along the edges of the portrait are four open panels with miniature views of the house where George spent last years own life. The year 1893 is indicated above the panels with diamonds. The egg itself is made of four-color gold, silver and platinum and covered with ruby red enamel. The contrast between the vulgar luxury and the simple life depicted in the miniatures is striking. Perhaps this is said too strongly, but the collection of miniatures says more about loneliness than a portrait could say.

No. 5 Renaissance Egg, 1894

Master - Mikhail Perkhin
Height - 14 cm
Materials - white agate, gold, transparent green, red and blue enamel. Opaque black and white enamel, diamonds, rubies. Carving, chasing.
Forbes Collection, New York.
Origin: A gift to Empress Maria Feodorovna from Emperor Alexander III for Easter 1894.
Acquired by Armand Hammer circa 1927. Mr and Mrs Henry Talbot de Vere, Clifton, England. Mr and Mrs Jack Lynskey, New York.
The Renaissance egg is already the tenth traditional Easter egg presented to Maria Feodorovna by her husband. She received a gift in Gatchina. The egg was carved from thin transparent agate, a type of quartz. Almost as fragile as a real egg, it was decorated like a cake with diamonds, rubies and colored enamel. This is one of the few Faberge eggs that seemed to be elongated horizontally and had an unusual convex shape. Resembling a jeweled jewelry box, it was made in the form of an eighteenth-century casket that Faberge had seen in Dresden as a schoolboy. However, the contents of the egg had disappeared long ago, and without a surprise, the product itself was not very interesting. During the celebration of Easter, Maria Feodorovna's thoughts were in Germany, where the happy Nikolai finally received Alix's consent to the marriage. Alix resisted the conversion to the Orthodox faith for a very long time. It wasn't just a whim. Alix expressed firm confidence in her Protestant faith and left little room for further persuasion. In early April 1894, Nikolai officially proposed Alix's hand and heart, but was met with the same intransigence. Two hours of conversation led to nothing. All Alix could answer to Nikolai's pleas was a quiet "No, I can't," as tears rolled down her cheeks. However, Nicholas was resolute and he found allies among other royal persons. V general fortress Maria Feodorovna also fell, receiving another gift for Easter, she was already thinking about a speedy wedding.

No. 6. Rosebud Egg, 1895

Master - Mikhail Perkhin
Materials - colored gold, transparent red and opaque white enamel. Diamonds, velvet.
Bud made of gold, opaque yellow and green enamel.
Height - 6.8cm
Origin - Forbes magazine collection, Viktor Vekselberg.
Serious things have happened this year. On October 20, 1894, Alexander III died, he was only 49 years old. The next morning there was a short service at which Alix converted to Orthodoxy. Princess Alix of Hesse, a former Lutheran, was now "of the true faith Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna". A week after the funeral of her father-in-law, whom she barely knew, Alexandra Feodorovna tried on a dress worn by generations of Russian Grand Duchesses on their wedding day. A three-meter train of silver fabric was trimmed with ermine fur. They say that Maria Feodorovna commented on this: “Yes, I know how hard it is. But I am afraid that this is only the smallest of the burdens that the Russian Empress will have to bear. And Alexandra pronounced a cruel sentence on her wedding day: “The wedding seemed to be just a continuation of long funeral ceremonies”
"Rosebud" is the first egg presented to Alexandra Feodorovna. Everything. Now Alix is the legal wife of Nikolai and, according to tradition, will receive a gift for Easter. That is, now we get two imperial eggs a year. Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna. Nikolai will give a gift to both his mother and wife. Alexandra Fedorovna received the first egg, Maria Fedorovna - 11, probably, the next one in the show will be "Twelve Monograms".
Faberge began to solve the serious problem of how to please Alexandra. The Rosebud egg was relatively small. One might consider the red color of the enamel to be too saturated, since it could resemble those bright spots that appeared on the face of the queen in public, and the choice of yellow enamel for coloring the rosebud inside the egg also seems unfortunate. Although in Germany this would be considered the noblest color for a rose, Alexandra may have been aware of the traditional use of yellow roses as a gift to signal the end of a relationship. Even so, it hardly pissed her off. She was pregnant and enjoyed her married life. In any case, she must have been fascinated by the two surprises that appeared when the petals of the bud unfolded: they were the imperial crown and a ruby pendant similar to the one in the hen in the first egg given to Mary. The parallel was, of course, intentional: Faberge was looking forward to learning how his relationship with the new queen would develop, whether they would be as happy and as profitable as with her predecessor.
By the way, the egg has been restored. It was damaged during a family quarrel.
PS The crown and pendant that were inside the rose are now missing.

No. 7 Egg with a model of the cruiser "Memory of Azov", 1891

Materials - gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies, heliotrope, aquamarine and velvet.
Height - 9.3 cm
Location- State museums Kremlin.
Origin - a gift to Empress Maria Feodorovna from Emperor Alexander III for Easter 1891.
In October 1890, Tsarevich Nicholas boarded the Russian naval vessel Pamyat Azov for a nine-month voyage around South Asia. His parents had many reasons to send him on this trip. Nikolai was 22 years old at that moment, he needed to broaden his horizons. This voyage could also help him forget about the beginning infatuation with Matilda Kshesinskaya, a seventeen-year-old ballerina of the imperial ballet. On this voyage, he was accompanied by George, he needed to treat his cough. And finally, this trip had a diplomatic aspect. Nicholas was supposed to represent Russia, meeting with foreign dignitaries at every stop.
The egg "memory of Azov" was presented to Maria by Alexander at a time when both of their sons were away from home. The egg contains a surprise: a replica of the gold and platinum cruiser in which the two young men traveled. The diamonds depicted portholes, the equipment was accurately copied from the original, the anchor chain and weapons moved. The model rested on a plate made of aquamarine representing water. The egg itself, just under 10 cm high, was carved from a single piece of heliotrope, veined with red and blue, and adorned with rococo gold swirls. Maria seemed to really like this egg, arousing strong emotions in her.
Whatever their Majesties' purposes were for their sons' journey, it is doubtful that they were achieved. Nicholas expanded his horizons a little; in Egypt, his attention was occupied by belly dancers, and not by local attractions. George left the ship due to the fact that his cough intensified, in addition, he developed a fever. And in Japan, a dangerous incident occurred with Nikolai. On the street, the Tsarevich was attacked by a policeman armed with a sword with the intention of hacking him to death. The prince received a rather serious wound, the scar from which remained for life, the quick reaction of cousin Nikolai saved his life. Further diplomatic curtsies were difficult for Nicholas to comply with. And, finally, when Nikolai returned to St. Petersburg, he again renewed his connection with Kshesinskaya.
Traveled on a cruiser for 9.5 months. Faberge also traveled with the princes. In Siam (Thailand) there was a stop, Faberge received an order from the Siamese king, Faberge made a jade Buddha. They returned from a trip by a “dry” way. In Vladivostok, the 1st railway was laid.

No. 8 Egg with Danish Yards 1890

Master - Mikhail Perkhin
Materials - green and rose gold, mauve opal guilloché enamel, star sapphires, emerald, rose-cut diamonds.
Red velvet pocket and lining.
Screen - green and colored gold, watercolor on mother-of-pearl.
Height - 10.1 cm
Matilda Geddings Gray Collection, New Orleans.
Origin - presented by Emperor Alexander III to his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna for Easter 1890.
Hammer Galleries, New York. Acquired from the Soviet government around 1927.
"Danish Palaces". The increase in the freedom of Faberge's creativity occurred gradually, but by 1890 it was already complete. This year's egg was so complex that it took at least 12 months to create it. This is a beautiful, brilliantly crafted piece. It is made of colored gold, covered with a perfectly smooth enamel, against the background of milky-pink transparency of which rose-cut diamonds and emeralds stand out brightly, which form a grid on its surface. The surprise hidden in the egg shows how much Faberge began to understand his true client, Maria Feodorovna. The egg opens and inside it is a golden screen with ten mother-of-pearl panels. Each panel features an elegant watercolor by court miniaturist Konstantin Krizhytsky. Five images of Danish royal residences, the next two - views of the palace in Peterhof, one panel depicts the Gatchina Palace and, finally, a series of images ended with images of two imperial yachts "Polar Star" and "Princess". Like the Hen egg made five years earlier, it reminded Maria of her childhood, but this time Faberge created a frankly personalized gift. It was a unique image of the recipient of the gift - it reminded her of her Danish origin and the luxury that she now enjoyed in Russia.

No. 9. Egg in memory of the coronation, St. Petersburg, 1897

Masters - Mikhail Perkhin and Heinrich Wigstrom, carriage - Georg Stein.
Egg height - 12.6 cm, carriage height - 9.3 cm
Materials - colored gold, transparent yellow-green and opaque black enamel. Diamonds, velvet. The carriage model is gold, platinum, red enamel, diamonds, rubies, crystal.
Origin - presented by Emperor Nicholas II to his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for Easter 1897.
Acquired by Emanuel Snowman for Huartsky, London, circa 1927.
Nikolai gave Alexandra an egg, considered by many to be "Faberge's most significant work on a public occasion." It was dedicated to their joint coronation as emperor and empress in 1896 and was an example of perfection in terms of design concept, color, metal work and surprise. Made of red gold, the egg is covered with a magnificent iridescent yellow enamel, surrounded by a golden lattice, on top is a Romanov eagle made of black enamel. The color combination was supposed to evoke the golden robes that the queen wore during the ceremony. The egg contained a replica of Alexandra's coronation carriage. Its production alone took fifteen months of work by a twenty-three-year-old young jeweler Georgy Stein, whose eyes were able to cope with the creation of incredibly small details of a golden carriage. It was completely hinged, decorated with red enamel and diamonds, its windows were made of rock crystal, and its wheels were made of platinum. Even today, this exquisite work of art is surprising - the carriage gives the impression of being springy and easy to manage, which seems simply impossible.
So, on the one hand, the egg is a clear demonstration of Faberge's genius. On the other hand, from the point of view of the recipient of the egg, one could hardly have done anything less pleasant. At Easter 1897, the imperial couple would have preferred to forget the event, which was to become one of the most significant events of the reign of Nicholas. As for Alexandra, an exact copy of her carriage could only be an unpleasant memory of her trip to Moscow: the stormy greetings of her mother-in-law, the somewhat calmer reception given to her husband, and the gloomy silence that greeted her, who came from outside the German. Even then, she felt the unpopularity that would characterize her entire reign.
However, the darkest shadow was cast on the spectacle of the coronation by the tragedy that occurred a few days later on the Khodynka field on the outskirts of Moscow. It was the traditional place where Muscovites welcomed their new king. But, in the thirteen years that have passed since the coronation of Alexander III, the city has expanded incredibly and the authorities were completely unprepared for the arrival of half a million people. Crush and panic. The number of those killed can only be estimated: Nikolai's officials estimated the death toll at 500 people, but the true figure is closer to 5,000. Tragedy. But what most subjects, including members of the imperial family, could not forgive Nicholas was his reaction to the tragedy. Under the influence of his imperious uncles, the king did not even offer to cancel the ball with the French ambassador, which took place that evening. The yard danced while the wounded on Khodynka were dying. The emperor's subsequent visits to the hospital and the donations he made to the families of his victims could not remedy the situation. All this left an unpleasant imprint on the rest of the reign of Nicholas.
But, Alexandra still had a particularly difficult memory of the coronation. According to her maid, Marfa Mukhanova, the stress of those days caused Alexandra to miscarry. This in itself was a rather sad event, but the most unpleasant thing was that Alexandra's doctor was convinced that the unborn child was a boy, a prince, whom she and Nikolai so desperately desired. Surely every glance at the egg reminded the Empress of her loss.
An interesting moment about the feelings of Faberge himself. He was at the coronation. Later, he told only one story about this event. Faberge followed the ceremony on her four-wheeled carriage, best years who were behind. During the trip, the bottom fell out, but the rider continued to move on foot, moving his feet inside the convertible. A stunning image: it is clear that the jeweler was thinking of a vehicle so very different from Alexandra's carriage when creating the egg.

No. 10. Egg with lilies of the valley, Petersburg, 1898

Master - Mikhail Perkhin
Materials - gold, transparent gold and pink enamel, diamonds, rubies, pearls, crystal, ivory.
Height - 20 cm
Origin - presented by Emperor Nicholas II to his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for Easter 1898.
Acquired by Emanuel Snowman for Wartsky. London, circa 1927. Collection of Forbes magazine, Viktor Veselberg.
Of all Fabergé's creations, this egg is one of the most beautiful. There is something in the Lily of the Valley egg that immediately attracts attention. Perhaps this is how, when illuminated at a certain angle, the golden tone of the substrate appears under the pink enamel. Perhaps this is the tenderness with which the pearls hang down the sides of the egg, depicting stylized lilies of the valley. They were one of Alexandra's favorite colors, and she couldn't help but appreciate the Art Nouveau style in which this egg was made - a new starting point for a jeweler who drew more inspiration from eighteenth-century French art. Alexandra herself continued to use the Art Nouveau theme when renovating the Alexander Palace.
Most of all Alexandra liked the egg surprise. When a pearl button was pressed on the side of the egg, three miniatures appeared and fanned out at the top: Nikolai in military uniform was depicted on the central one, and portraits of Grand Duchess Olga and Tatiana, Alexandra's two eldest children, were located on the sides. These were without a doubt the three people whom Alexandra loved more than anyone in the world. She was born to be a mother, and she loved her girls to the point of madness - both were then less than 3 years old - so much so that this further increased the displeasure of St. Petersburg society. Even her grandmother, Queen Victoria, who was a caring mother in her own right, thought she had taken too long to breastfeed. In the absence of a son, Faberge could not continue to create eggs that would glorify daughters that were useless for the continuation of the dynasty, however, their parents loved them very much. The Lily of the Valley egg did not become the beginning of a new series of works. Faberge had to look elsewhere for inspiration. Therefore, in the next few years, almost every egg destined for Alexandra will be an elaborate but impersonal decoration, or the emphasis will be on the main events of her husband's reign. Faberge had nowhere to turn around.

To be continued....

Traditionally, on Saturdays, we publish answers to the quiz for you in the Q&A format. Our questions range from simple to complex. The quiz is very interesting and quite popular, but we just help you test your knowledge and make sure that you have chosen the correct answer out of the four proposed. And we have another question in the quiz - What was inside the first Easter egg made by C. Faberge?

A. emerald ring
B. portrait of the empress
C. wheat grain
D. golden hen

The correct answer is D. Golden Hen

Hen (The First Imperial Easter Egg)- This is a jewelry egg, which became the first in a series of fifty-two imperial Easter eggs made by Carl Faberge for the Russian imperial family. It was created by order of Emperor Alexander III in 1885. The emperor and empress liked the egg so much that Alexander III made it a tradition to order Faberge eggs for his wife every Easter.

Currently, the jewelry egg is on permanent display at the Faberge Museum in St. Petersburg, located in the Naryshkin-Shuvalov Palace.