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Imperial Easter Eggs:
Faberge's greatest triumph was a series of fifty unique Easter eggs made for the last tsars of Russia. Inspired by the traditional Russian custom of giving decorated eggs at Easter, each one concealed a surprise designed to delight its recipient. Tsar Alexander III commissioned ten eggs as Easter presents for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, daughter of the king and queen of Denmark. The first of these -- a white enamel hen's egg -- was presented to her in 1885. It opened to reveal a gold yolk, which contained a gold hen. Within the hen was a diamond crown and a diamond-and-ruby pendant. Beginning in 1894, Tsar Nicholas II continued his father's annual tradition by giving Faberge Easter eggs to both his mother and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna. In all, forty eggs were created for Nicholas II.
Tsar Nicholas II gave the Imperial Rock Crystal Easter Egg, in the nearby case, to his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, as an Easter gift in 1896 -- just two months before their coronation. The base of the egg features colorful champleve enamel and rose-cut diamonds that form the crowned monogram of Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (the tsarina's title before her marriage) and her later monogram as Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. It is one of five Imperial Easter eggs in the museum's collection. |