From 1885 to 1916, the royal family's court jeweler, Carl Faberge, presented the Tsar with one masterpiece a year. The total number of Easter eggs created by Faberge for the imperial family is 50.
Before the revolution, Easter was the favorite holiday of the people of Russia, as it coincided with the arrival of spring, warmth and the awakening of nature. At the end of the 19th century, Easter acquired universal significance: a whole branch of applied art was formed, dedicated to the production of Easter products. Easter eggs were produced in huge quantities, and they were made from the most different materials- glass, porcelain, wood, various ornamental materials, stones, and flowers.
Ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya once told how for Easter she was given a large egg made of live lilies of the valley, and attached to it was a miniature precious egg that could be worn as a keychain. One day she was given a simple straw egg, inside of which lay packaged wonderful things from Faberge.
Imperial Faberge Easter Eggs
Carl Faberge's jewelry Easter eggs were considered the pinnacle of the genre of Easter applied art; they became a kind of symbol of the era.
Tsar Alexander III gave Faberge Easter eggs to his wife Maria Feodorovna, Tsar Nicholas II presented them as gifts to his mother and wife Alexandra Feodorovna. It is believed that the emperors gave Easter eggs produced by Faberge and other members of the royal family. Currently, only 42 surviving Fabergé masterpieces are known.
The order by which Faberge made eggs for the Tsar contained the fulfillment of three conditions: egg-shaped; a surprise containing a connection with any event of the royal family and the third condition - that the work should not be repeated.
Thus, these Easter gifts were created decorated with royal monograms or dates, some had miniature portraits of children and the emperor himself or images of the royal residences, two of them contained models of the ships on which the last Russian emperor sailed.
The egg was solemnly presented to the Tsar either by Carl Faberge himself or by his son Eugene and was invariably greeted with great delight, since everyone could see the surprise hidden in the gift.
Egg technique
Once made, the eggs were held together with clasps and hinges so that, if necessary, they could be easily disassembled for maintenance or repair. In turn, the use of such technology and such a design of the product removed many restrictions in the choice of materials. Faberge combined the use of drago valuable materials with inexpensive materials, but easy to process.
The “shell” of the egg was enameled using the famous Faberge technique. If the egg consisted of two opening halves, the design was designed so that the finish carefully disguised the interlocking edges of both halves.
Decorative overlays attached to the surface of Easter eggs not only determined the artistic style, but also contributed to the creation of scenes that anticipated or emphasized the meaning of the surprises inside. Selection of material for manufacturing decorative finishes depended on their purpose.
When making Easter eggs, gilded bronze and gilded silver were used as a substitute for gold, which has both beauty and durability. Silver was also used to make frames for miniature surprise portraits, as it had the most shiny surface of all materials. For purely decorative purposes, Faberge often used colored gold. By selecting the ratio of pure gold and other pure metals, he obtained a set of shades of varying saturation.
Many Easter eggs are decorated with a continuous decorative mesh (cagework), which was made from a wide variety of materials.
Most of the exterior finishing details, starting with the frames and festoons, are made of gold different shades and ending with the leaves and stems of flowers on easter egg“Lilies of the valley” were attached to the shell of the egg using miniature fasteners. Fasteners soldered to back side parts were inserted into holes in the shells. They were then folded along the inside surface of the shell to firmly secure the decorations. When drilling holes in the enamel shell, the egg was immersed in water to prevent the drill from overheating and damaging the enamel coating.
Surprises in Faberge eggs
Among the “surprises” hidden in many Faberge Easter eggs are miniature models made from precious materials, jewelry, and images of people, events and places that were significant to the imperial family. Some surprises are essentially individual works of art that can only be seen or, in some cases, set in motion when removed from the egg. Other secretions can be observed through the transparent shell of the egg.
The opening parts of the egg were attached to hinges. The upper part of the egg shell acted as a lid. The sides were flaps that opened up or down depending on the location of the hinges. The part of the outer body of the egg that hides the surprise was usually attached to spring hinges, which are designed in such a way that when a button or pawl is pressed, it opens smoothly.
There was no item, object or plant that the Fabergé masters could not reproduce as a surprise for an Easter egg. The model of the Gatchina Palace with the surrounding areas, with trees, lamp posts, was made of gold of four colors. The model of the monument to Peter I, made by Falcone commissioned by Catherine the Great, was also embodied in a “surprise”. The Faberge Easter egg “Gatchina Palace” is located in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, The Walters Art Museum.
The simple mechanisms used in some Easter eggs were designed specifically for each occasion. A simple gear mechanism raised and lowered three miniature portraits of Tsar Nicholas II and his eldest daughters, Olga and Tatiana, in the Lilies of the Valley Easter egg. Some eggs have built-in clocks that are wound with keys that are usually inserted into a hole in the back of the case, but others are wound with a handle. On some Easter eggs, the clock has a horizontal band with numbers rotating against a stationary mark. Inside the special eggs are hidden figures of birds that appear every hour from the top of the egg.
Perhaps the most famous “surprise” is the coronation carriage from the “Coronation” Easter egg - a miniature model 3 and 1/6 inches (8cm) long, made of gold and enamel - an exact copy of the carriage that was used at the coronation of Nicholas II and his wife in 1896 d. “Curtains” are engraved directly on the windows from rock crystal. Decorated door handles, smaller than a grain of rice, rotate to open and close the doors with a latch. The body of the carriage rests on straps that absorb shock, like real leather ones, thus the body also sways on the chassis when the carriage moves.
The most ingenious secrets are set in motion by clockwork mechanisms. The basis for the creation of these mechanisms was Swiss automata of the 18th century; however, the train model in the “Great Siberian Route” Easter egg is an exact copy of the real locomotive and cars of the Trans-Siberian Express. Current model The train is folded section by section into a velvet-lined case inside the egg. The map of the railway route and the heraldic eagle crowning the entire composition also serve as a hint of the surprise hidden inside the egg.
Made in the best traditions of Faberge, the Easter egg “The Great Siberian Route” and its “surprise” are among those works of art that delight the eye, captivate the imagination and warm the soul.
Nine eggs returned to Russia
On February 4, 2004, Sotheby's auction house announced the sale, by private agreement, of Forbes' Fabergé collection to Russian industrialist Viktor Vekselberg, who returned the eggs to Russia. Before returning to Russia, the collection, including the legendary nine Imperial Easter Eggs, was presented at a public exhibition at Sotheby's in New York. This part of the collection, consisting of nine eggs, was valued at $90 million, the final amount of the transaction was not disclosed. Sotheby's auction house carried out this private transaction on behalf of the Forbes family.
Based on materials: Imperial Faberge Easter Eggs
Faberge Easter eggs from the collection of the Moscow Kremlin (Armory Chamber)
One of the oldest and richest museums in the Moscow Kremlin is the Armory Chamber, which has a wonderful collection of monuments
arts and crafts. The collection of the national treasury includes products from Russian jewelry companies of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Among them are works of the famous Faberge company: watches, cigarette cases, Jewelry, silverware, tea and coffee sets, frames of crystal vases, miniature sculptural figurines made of colored ornamental stones.
The pride of the collection is ten imperial Easter eggs with surprises, which are the pinnacle of creative inspiration and honed skill of a whole galaxy of outstanding jewelers and artists under the leadership of Carl Faberge, who at the beginning of the 20th century in Paris was recognized as Maitre - one of the best jewelers of our time. 
Making elaborately decorated Easter eggs has been both a tradition and
ancient craft in Russia. Long before Faberge began creating jewelry eggs for the imperial family, eggs made of precious metals and stones were made for the Russian Tsars. But only Carl Faberge and his talented team of artists, jewelers, stone carvers, sculptors, model makers and miniaturists were able to bring the art of making jewelry Easter eggs to an unprecedented and unsurpassed level of grace, skill and creativity.
In total, from 1885 to 1917, about 56 Easter masterpieces were created by order of Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II (the exact number is unknown). The eggs made in the workshop of Mikhail Perkhin, which was headed by Heinrich Wigström after his death, were distinguished by unprecedented luxury, amazing imagination, unsurpassed perfection of detail, and a masterly combination of a variety of techniques. Never repeating themselves, they were especially impressive with the surprises they contained - miniature copies of royal yachts and cruisers with the finest gear, palaces with flower beds made of “fluffy” gold laid out in front of them, monuments strewn with stones, flowers or buds.
Jewelry Easter eggs-souvenirs were a surprise not only for those to whom they were intended as a gift, but often also for the emperor who ordered them. “Your Majesty will be pleased” was the answer Faberge usually gave when asked about the plot of the next egg.
Egg with a model of the cruiser "Memory of Azov", 1891
On the armored ship "Memory of Azov", built at the Baltic Shipyard in the late 80s of the 19th century, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich (future Emperor Nicholas II) made a trip to the East in 1890-1891, during which he was attacked by a Japanese samurai - a fanatic in the city of Otsu and miraculously survived. The voyage ended in Vladivostok, where the crown prince and heir to the throne began the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The egg was presented by Emperor Alexander III to Empress Maria Feodorovna on Easter 1891.
Egg-clock, 1899 
The clock hand resembles Cupid's arrow fired from a bow; she is surrounded by torches, whose flames turn into lush floral curls. Together with a bouquet of lilies, “sprouting” through a wreath of roses made of multi-colored gold, they symbolize the virtuous flame family love. This Easter egg, made in the shape of an antique French clock in the style of Louis XVI, is a kind of materialized declaration of love from Nicholas II to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
Egg with a model of a Siberian train, 1900 
This Easter egg is a typical example of a commemorative gift item created by the company in honor of an important historical event - the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, inspired by Emperor Alexander III and continued during the reign of Nicholas II. The road connected the European and Asian parts of Russia, the largest industrial cities with the military port of Vladivostok, which gave impetus to the intensive development of the vast Siberian outskirts.
The egg was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
Clover Egg, 1902 
On the openwork rim of the egg there is an image of the imperial crown, the date “1902” and the monogram of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna framed by clover flowers. The surprise is lost. But the museum staff managed to find a unique archival document, from which it follows that a precious quatrefoil with 4 miniatures was secured inside. Probably, portraits of the royal daughters (Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia) were depicted on the petals of the surprise, therefore it was a symbol happy marriage Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a symbol of the union of two loving people. It was believed that finding a four-leaf clover was very rare and lucky. The egg is made in the Art Nouveau style with its floral motifs and refined outlines, which is perfectly suited for embodying an intimate family theme.
The egg was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on Easter 1902.
Egg "Moscow Kremlin", 1904-1906 
This Easter egg was made in memory of the stay of the Tsar and Tsarina in the Golden-domed Capital during the celebration of Easter in 1903, which was enthusiastically received by the entire Russian society and, in particular, by Muscovites. Carrying out this work of extraordinary design, the masters of the Faberge company sought to create an image of the ancient Kremlin - at the same time majestic and fabulously elegant. Before us is a unique, masterly variation on the theme of Kremlin architecture.
The egg was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for Easter 1906.
Egg with a model of the Alexander Palace, 1908 
The Alexander Palace was the country residence of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, who rarely left the walls of the palace and led a rather secluded lifestyle, for which they were called “Tsarskoye Selo hermits.”
The egg was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on Easter 1908.
Egg with a model of the yacht "Standart", 1909
The yacht "Standart" was the favorite yacht of Nicholas II. On it, the king's family spent a lot of time in the skerries of the Gulf of Finland, until the yacht crashed in the coastal skerries.
The egg was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on Easter 1909.
Egg with a model of the monument to Alexander III, 1910
The model inside the egg reproduces the monument by sculptor P. Trubetskoy, erected on Znamenskaya Square in St. Petersburg near the Nikolaevsky railway station according to the rescript of Nicholas II in memory of his father.
The egg was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Maria Feodorovna for Easter 1910.
Egg "300th anniversary of the House of Romanov", 1913 
The egg, made for the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty, is decorated with eighteen miniature portraits of representatives of the reigning dynasty. At the top and bottom of the egg there are flat diamonds, through which the dates “1613” and “1913” are visible. Inside the egg is a rotating blued steel globe, on which a gold overlay image of the Northern Hemisphere is placed twice: on one, the territory of Russia is indicated in colored gold within the borders of 1613, on the other - within the borders of 1913. In the decor of the egg, dedicated to the 300th anniversary ruling dynasty, which was celebrated magnificently in the empire, elements of state symbols were abundantly used.
The egg was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for Easter 1913.
Egg with miniature on an easel, 1916 
The steel egg was created during the First World War - a difficult time for both Russia and the royal family. Therefore, its appearance is strict, and its decor is formal and rather dry. Since the egg was created in honor of the awarding of the Tsar with the Order of St. George, IV degree, the golden frame of the miniature is decorated with a black and orange ribbon and a white enamel cross of this order.
The egg was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for Easter 1916.
Fabergé's exquisite works have survived a tragic and blood-soaked history that has scattered them around the world.
What can you find inside an Easter egg? A bar of chocolate? A fluffy, yellow Easter chicken toy? Over the course of 30 years, the empresses of Tsarist Russia learned to expect a little more from Easter gifts. Inside the pure white, life-size egg - sculpted from enamel, not chocolate - a gift from Tsar Alexander III to Tsarina Maria Feodorovna in 1885, there was a golden yolk hiding a golden hen. Inside the golden chicken was 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 Fabergé's St. Petersburg studio between 1885 and 1917, when the October Revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power.
The eggs were made of gold, coated with fine layers of varnish and studded with precious stones.
The phrase “Faberge eggs” became synonymous with luxury and an emblem of the wealth of the imperial house and pre-revolutionary Russia. And also the name of the species jewelry in the form of eggs with surprises and one of the symbols of Russia. Eggs were made from 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 of the railway, its tiny locomotive, complete with diamond headlight, pulling five golden carriages, their windows made of rock crystal and engraved with infinitesimal inscriptions on the carriages: "direct Siberian communication", "for ladies", "for smokers", "for non-smokers", "church". With the help of a small key the train can be set in motion.
Faberge craftsmen often experimented with unconventional materials - rock crystal, precious woods, rare minerals. Each egg took almost a year to make. The structure of the Faberge company was ahead of its time: the jewelry companies included in the concern were quite independent in their work.
Many jewelers working for Faberge owned their own companies, 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. There are 54 known imperial eggs: 46 pieces, made according to the royal order, have survived to this day; the rest are known from descriptions, accounts and old photographs and are considered lost.
Carl Faberge was a hereditary jeweler, traveled around Europe and studied in Dresden, after which he began to master the jewelry business from the Frankfurt master Joseph Friedman. After this he returned to Russia. At the age of 24 in 1870, he took over his father's company. In 1882, at the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition in Moscow, the products of his company attracted the attention of Emperor Alexander III. Thus, Karl received the patronage of the royal family and the title of “Jeweler of His Imperial Majesty and Jeweler of the Imperial Hermitage.”
All eggs made by Carl Faberge's company 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 because rare earth minerals were used for it. Now the egg is kept in the Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow.
Although the House of Fabergé was nationalized by the Bolsheviks after the revolution, Karl's son Peter left the country and died in Switzerland in 1920. To acquire 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 remained in New York for a long time. That was until they were bought by 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: the most expensive chronograph and 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 chance. An anonymous lucky guy bought it at a flea market for the price of scrap gold. Imagine his surprise when he found out the true cost of the egg - about thirty million dollars.
The tradition continues. Recently, the House of Faberge revived its Easter tradition. In February 2015, the company created an egg for the ruling dynasty of Qatar. The modern egg is made of mother of pearl, gray pearls, diamonds and white gold.
Faberge is still perhaps one of the most famous jewelry brands today. 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 extremely rare, shrouded in mystery, and their value reaches tens of millions of dollars. In our review, little-known facts about the world's most famous eggs.
1. Imperial Easter traditions
The tradition of painting Easter eggs has existed in Russia since ancient times. The imperial family also followed it. 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 egg, covered in white enamel, with a gold stripe 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 in Easter holidays gave precious eggs to his mother and wife.
2. The main rule is surprise inside
The author of the Easter eggs that Russian emperors ordered was the jewelry master Peter Carl Faberge. He was given complete creative freedom; he could create precious eggs on any theme. But there was still one rule: every egg should have 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 model of a ship, an exact working replica 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. His father, Gustav Faberge, was from Pärnu (Estonia) and came from a German family, his mother, Charlotte Jungstedt, was the daughter of a Danish artist. In 1841, Faberge Sr. received the title of “Jewelry Master” and in 1842 he founded a jewelry company in St. Petersburg on Bolshaya Morskaya Street at number 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 company.
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 Fabergé. 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's products were also famous in Europe. Numerous royal and princely relatives of the Russian Imperial Family in Great Britain, Denmark, Greece, and Bulgaria received jewelry as a gift, valued it very much and passed it on to inheritance.
The revolution of 1917 forced Faberge to close the company. 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 off Russian artistic treasures. They plundered churches, sold paintings by old masters from the Hermitage Museum and took over the crowns, tiaras, necklaces and Faberge eggs that belonged to the Emperor's family.
In 1925, a catalog of the valuables of the imperial court (crowns, wedding crowns, scepter, orb, tiaras, necklaces and other jewelry, including the famous Faberge eggs) was sent to all foreign representatives in the USSR. Part of the Diamond Fund was sold to the English antiquarian Norman Weiss. In 1928, seven “low-value” Faberge eggs and 45 other items were removed 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 Faberge - Peacock egg. Inside the crystal and gold masterpiece was an enameled 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. The missing egg-toy bag
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 Faberge's workshop in 1889, is also shrouded in mystery. The last time this egg was allegedly seen in a London store was in 1949. According to rumors, it was sold to an unknown person for $1,250. Today the cost of Faberge eggs reaches $30 million.
7. One egg was purchased as scrap precious metal
One of the lost imperial Easter eggs was found in a completely surprising way. An American bought a golden egg studded with precious stones for $14,000 for scrap and wanted to resell it at a better price. But when there were no buyers, he decided to look for an outlandish souvenir on the Internet and was surprised to discover that it was the work of Faberge. After examination, it was confirmed that this was 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 Imperial Faberge Eggs
The British Royal Family has three Imperial Faberge Easter eggs in its collection: Colonnade, Basket of Flowers and Mosaic. Special attention attracts the "Flower Basket", the flowers in which look fresh and surprisingly realistic.
The British collection of Fabergé products is one of the largest in the world. In addition to the legendary eggs, it contains several hundred jewelry masterpieces: boxes, frames, animal figurines and personal jewelry of members of the Imperial Houses of Russia, Great Britain and Denmark. Despite the size of the British collection, it is only a small part of the 200,000 pieces produced by the Fabergé jewelery house.
9. Eggs of the Kelkh family
When the Kelkh couple divorced, ex-wife The entrepreneur took her Fabergé collection with her to Paris. Six eggs eventually 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 to restore it to its former glory by relaunching jewelry in 2007. Two years later, through the efforts of Peter Fabergé'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 to $600,000.
O. BULANOVA
Some of the most valuable and famous works jewelry art in the world - these are Faberge Easter eggs. The creator of this luxury is a Russian-born jeweler, a German by nationality, Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920), the head of a family firm and a dynasty of jewelry masters.
Fabergé traveled throughout Europe and initially studied in Dresden, and then began to master jewelry making from the Frankfurt master Joseph Friedmann. After that he returned to Russia. At the age of 24 in 1870, he took over his father's company.
In 1882, at the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition in Moscow, the products of his company attracted the attention of Emperor Alexander III. Faberge received the patronage of the royal family and the title of “Jeweler of His Imperial Majesty and Jeweler of the Imperial Hermitage.”
His most famous creations, a series of Easter eggs, were created between 1885 and 1917 for the Russian imperial family and private buyers. In total, 71 pieces are known to have been created, of which 54 are imperial.
The very first egg was ordered by Tsar Alexander III to Carl Faberge and the jewelers of his company in 1885 as Easter surprise for his wife Maria Fedorovna.
T.N. The outside of the “chicken” egg was white - smooth and covered with enamel, measuring 6.5 by 3.5 cm. There was a gold stripe down the middle of it. Along this stripe the egg opened.
Inside was a gold yolk, and inside it was an identical golden chicken. Inside the chicken, in turn, was hidden a small ruby crown with a ruby pendant. This was done, as is easy to see, according to the tradition of folding nesting dolls.
By the way, the very idea of such a piece of jewelry was not original, but the level of execution exceeded all expectations. The first Faberge Easter egg was supposed to be a free interpretation of an egg made at the beginning of the 18th century.
All of the eggs mentioned above contain a chicken, which, when opened, reveals a crown and a ring in it. It is believed that the emperor wanted to please his wife with a surprise that would remind her of a well-known item from the Danish royal treasury.
The Empress was so fascinated by the gift that Faberge, who turned into a court jeweler, was ordered to make an egg every year; it had to be unique and contain some kind of surprise, that was the only condition. Faberge's design was to be kept secret.
The next emperor, Nicholas II, continued this tradition, giving, in turn, two eggs every spring - one to Maria Feodorovna, his widowed mother, and the second to Alexandra Feodorovna, the new empress.
By the way, Alexandra Fedorovna was once given a very modest egg, but which, nevertheless, she really liked. This happened in 1916. This gift is made of ordinary steel and not a single precious stone was used in its decoration. The egg stood on four shell-shaped stands.
Some experts associated such a modest decor of the gift with the difficulties of wartime - the First World War was underway. But, most likely, this egg turned out to be deliberately modest, because Faberge was well aware of the lifestyle of his august customers, unpretentious in peacetime, and completely ascetic in difficult years.
The “Memory of Azov” egg, made of green heliotrope, decorated with gold and diamonds, contained a small golden frigate. In the souvenir of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna made of transparent rock crystal, twelve small miniatures with landscapes rotated around an axis.
The most famous egg in the world is the Coronation Egg. It is made in the shape of an imperial carriage. Empress Alexandra liked the pink Lily of the Valley egg better. Portraits of Nicholas II and his daughters were hidden in it.
The largest product is made like a music box and is called “Kremlin”.
Each egg took almost a year to make. As soon as the sketch was approved, a whole team of the company's jewelers took on the work, the names of some of whom have been preserved (so it should not be said that the author of all of them is Faberge).
The contribution of master Mikhail Perkhin is especially great. Also mentioned are August and Albert Holstrom, Henrik Wigstrom, Eric Colin, Alma Peel and others.
The series of imperial eggs enjoyed such fame that soon everyone around the king wanted to have such eggs at home, and Fabergé’s fame reached other countries.
However, Faberge did not mass produce his souvenirs. His company produced only a few products for private customers.
Among them, a series of seven eggs, given by gold miner Alexander Kelkh to his wife, stands out. In addition, there are 8 more Faberge eggs made to order for Felix Yusupov, Alfred Nobel's nephew, the Rothschilds, the Duchess of Marlborough and unidentified persons. They are not as luxurious as imperial ones, and are not original, often repeating the type invented for royal gifts.
It is possible that other items were made for private individuals, but they were never documented (unlike the royal eggs), which leaves some freedom for skilled forgers.
An example of an unexpected discovery is the “Rothschild egg” put up for sale in the fall of 2007, which was ordered by representatives of the clan from the Faberge company and was kept among the family property, without publicity, for a century.
The “Rothschild Egg” is made in the shape of a watch, inside there is a mechanical rooster encrusted with precious stones. Every hour the bird sings and flaps its wings.
Of the imperial eggs, only one - “Georgievskoe” - was able to leave Bolshevik Russia along with its rightful owner, Empress Maria Feodorovna, in her luggage. This happened in 1918, when the empress left through Crimea for her homeland, Denmark.
The rest remained in Petrograd. There they were kept packed until about 1930, when, as part of a general sale of the cultural heritage of Soviet Russia in search of funds on the orders of Stalin, 14 of them were sold, with the Renaissance egg and the egg with miniatures depicting palaces and yachts being valued at 400 and 500 rubles.
The ruble then, of course, was much more expensive than it is now, but the amount was still ridiculous. For comparison: the cost of one Faberge egg at prices at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. was 3000-8000 rubles.
With such a sale, the Bolshevik authorities killed two birds with one stone - and the necessary funds appeared and got rid of the legacy of the “damned past, the legacy of reactionary art.”
The sale was handled by an institution called the Antiques Office. Most of them were purchased by Armand Hammer and Emmanuel Snowman Wartzky, English Fabergé dealers.
As for the series of seven eggs for A. Kelch’s wife, Faberge jeweler Mikhail Perkhin worked on their creation. There might have been more of them, not seven, but Kelch stopped ordering gifts after 1905: the couple officially began to live separately, and their financial situation noticeably worsened due to the collapse in the Russo-Japanese War.
After the collection stored in the Kremlin, the largest collection was compiled by the New York tycoon Forbes. It included 11 imperial eggs, several scattered “surprises” of unknown or unpreserved eggs, and four private eggs.
In February 2004, the heirs of Forbes were supposed to put the collection up for auction, where it would probably go individually, but a few days before the start of the auction, the entire collection was bought up by the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
Faberge eggs were made from gold, silver, precious stones and other valuable materials. Enamels and fine jewelry work were used. Sometimes craftsmen experimented with not very traditional materials - rock crystal, precious types of wood. Proof of authenticity is the Faberge brand.
It should be noted that sometimes the eggs are much larger than they seem from the illustrations: the height of some (with a stand) could reach 20 cm. Traditionally, each one was supposed to contain some kind of surprise.
Often these were miniatures with portraits of the person to whom the egg was intended and members of his family. Clock eggs with winding parts (roosters and cuckoos) were also made.
Faberge eggs have always been of great interest to jewelers who want to make fakes. Because if successful, crazy profits would be guaranteed.
However, sometimes real eggs well-known company passed off as other products. One example: “The Kelha Hen” was sold to Forbes under the guise of one of the imperial eggs, which naturally increased its price. The technique was as follows: the miniature with the image of Varvara was replaced with the image of Tsarevich Alexei, in addition, the initials made of precious stones were also changed.
Only later research made it possible to restore the true identity. After Vekselberg acquired the Forbes collection, several more dubious things were revealed in it, in particular, the green “Egg with Hooves” made of bowenite on golden hoofed legs, with a miniature surprise portrait of Alexandra Fedorovna, which was believed to be earlier, it was given by the empress to one of her confidants. There are also no more mentions of the “Candy Egg.”
There are quite a few fakes of Faberge eggs, and some of them, made by unknown talented craftsmen, are true works of art in themselves.
It is curious that due to large quantity fakes in the second half of the 90s, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) held an exhibition of fake Faberge miniatures. The exhibition was a huge success because the products presented were amazing.
Faberge is still perhaps one of the most famous jewelry brands today. 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 extremely rare, shrouded in mystery, and their value reaches tens of millions of dollars. In our review, little-known facts about the world's most famous eggs.
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 also followed it. 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 egg, covered in white enamel, with a gold stripe 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 absolutely delighted with such a gift.
2. The first egg had a prototype
Actually, Faberge did not come up with this Easter nesting doll himself. As conceived by Alexander III, the Easter egg with a secret was supposed to be a free interpretation of an egg made at the beginning of the 18th century, 3 copies of which are still 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 eggs mentioned above, there is a chicken hidden, and when you open it, 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 item from the Danish royal treasury.
3. All Faberge eggs have a surprise in them.
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 make 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 gave precious eggs to his mother and wife during the Easter holidays.
Each Faberge egg contained a tiny miracle: a miniature replica of the royal crown, a ruby pendant, a mechanical swan, an elephant, a miniature gold replica of the palace, 11 tiny portraits on an easel, a model of a ship, an exact working replica of the royal carriage, etc.
4. The Bolsheviks underestimated the Faberge eggs and thereby saved them
After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks, trying to replenish the treasury of the “world's first communist state,” sold off Russian artistic treasures. They plundered churches, sold paintings by old masters from the Hermitage Museum and took over the crowns, tiaras, necklaces and Faberge eggs that belonged to the Emperor's family.
In 1925, a catalog of the valuables of the imperial court (crowns, wedding crowns, scepter, orb, tiaras, necklaces and other jewelry, including the famous Faberge eggs) was sent to all foreign representatives in the USSR. Part of the Diamond Fund was sold to the English antiquarian Norman Weiss.
In 1928, seven “low-value” Faberge eggs and 45 other items were removed from the Diamond Fund.
However, it was precisely thanks to this unflattering assessment for the creator of jewelry masterpieces that the Faberge eggs were saved from being melted down.
Thus, one of Faberge's most incredible creations, the Peacock Egg, was preserved. Inside the crystal and gold masterpiece was an enameled 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 produced 52 eggs for the Russian Imperial Court, 19 others were commissioned by private individuals. After the 1917 revolution, many were lost. 62 eggs have survived to this day, 10 of which are in the Kremlin collection, some belong to the Fabergé jewelry house, and 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 toilette egg, created in the Faberge workshop in 1889, is shrouded in mystery.
The last time this egg was allegedly seen in a London store was in 1949. According to rumors, it was sold to an unknown person for $1,250.
6. One of the imperial eggs was bought by a scrap buyer for £8,000.
One of the lost imperial Easter eggs was found in a completely surprising 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 product was seen was in 1922 in Moscow. The egg, made of gold and decorated 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 piece of jewelry went under the hammer at a New York auction under the name “gold watch in the shape of an egg” - 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, storing it in his kitchen. Tired of unsuccessful attempts, he tried to find out something about the manufacturer and typed the name engraved on the built-in clock into the search engine. That's how he came across an article by Kieran McCarthy, director of the royal jewelry house Wartski. He called McCarthy and then came to London with photographs 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.
“Indiana Jones probably experienced similar feelings when he found the lost ark,” this is how the head of the jewelry house described his emotions to journalists.
7. Queen Elizabeth II Owns Three Imperial Fabergé Eggs
The British Royal Family has three Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs: Colonnade, Basket of Flowers and Mosaic. The flower basket is the most famous masterpiece of this trio. This miniature bouquet of flowers is incredibly realistic!
The British collection of Fabergé products is one of the largest in the world. In addition to the legendary eggs, it contains several hundred jewelry masterpieces: boxes, frames, animal figurines and personal jewelry of members of the Imperial Houses of Russia, Great Britain and Denmark. Despite the size of the British collection, it is only a small part of the 200,000 pieces produced by the Fabergé jewelery house.
