Easter the Fabergé way!
Back in December 2018 I had the opportunity to visit St. Petersburg in Russia and whilst there I took a look around the Fabergé Museum.
You may be familiar with these stunning jewelled and enamelled eggs, but if not here’s a bit of background info on the House of Fabergé …
In 1885 the House of Fabergé was commissioned by the Russian Tsar Alexander III to create an Easter gift for his wife. The first Egg, known as the Jeweled Hen Egg, was a beautiful white shell which opened to reveal a golden yolk , and inside that, a golden hen.
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. This tradition continued until his death in 1894, following this, his son, Nicholas II, presented Fabergé Easter Eggs to both his wife and his mother. Imperial Eggs were made each year until 1917 (except 1904 and 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War).
Peter Carl Fabergé was given complete freedom for the design of each Imperial Easter Egg, and their designs became more and more elaborate and jewelled. According to Fabergé family lore, not even the Tsar knew what form they would take—the only requirements were that each contain a surprise, be personal to the recipient or year and that each be unique.
The Lilies of the Valley Egg (1898) is one of the most ornate. The Egg is covered in pearls and topped with rose pink enamel on a guilloché backgound. The Egg is supported by cabriole legs of green-gold leaves with rose-cut diamond dewdrops. The gold-stemmed lilies have green enamelled leaves and flowers made of gold set with rubies, pearls, and diamonds. This Egg's Surprise is 'elevated' out of the Egg by twisting a gold-mounted pearl button. When fully raised, three portraits are visible under the Imperial crown set with a ruby: Tsar Nicholas II and his two oldest daughters, painted on ivory. The portraits are framed in rose diamonds and backed with gold panels.
In some cases the Surprises inside the main Egg have been lost, and in others only the Surprise has survived.
A few other Eggs were commissioned for industrialists of the time, including the Duchess of Marlborough, the Rothschild family and Alexander Kelch.
Following the revolution and the nationalisation of the Fabergé workshop in St. Petersburg by the bolsheviks in 1918, the Fabergé family fled to Europe.
After the revolution, 42 of the Imperial Eggs made their way into private collections and museums. Seven were thought to have been lost. (missing Imperial Eggs may have been melted down as part of a policy of turning "treasures into tractors“). Two others are thought to have survived, though their locations remain a mystery.*
Many of the Eggs have made their way back to St Petersburg now and some are on display in the Fabergé Museum.
Here are some of the beautiful Eggs on display:
The House of Fabergé were pioneers in enamelling techniques. They created stunning jewellery but also many enamelled accessories, such as goblets, cigarette holders, plates and sweet boxes. The museum in St. Petersburg is an incredible showcase of some of these pieces.
Guilloché Enamelling is a technique where engraved metal with linear or geometric patterns is covered in translucent enamel. It creates a stunning shimmering liquid silk effect.
One of my favourite displays was a set of brightly coloured espresso cups and spoons, particularly the Guilloché enamelled spoons.
I really love that the museum had presented the collections of accessories in colour order. It was difficult to choose a favourite piece because each display case was so beautiful! The apricot/peach display caught my eye first, but then the turquoise, the lime, the cobalt … In fact every colour of enamel shone out!
It was a magical place to visit, full of splendour and colour.
Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you are enjoying an Easter egg of your own!
Oh and if you love a good car boot sale…
* In 2014, an anonymous American found a gold egg in a jumble sale, he spent a few thousand dollars on it and was hoping to sell it for gold scrap at a small profit. Luckily, a google search lead him to believe it may have connections to one of the few missing Fabergé Imperial eggs, and after professional examination by specialists in London, it was confirmed as the missing Third Imperial Egg and worth around $33million!
