A Fabergé egg (Russian: яйцо Фаберже|yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtually all were manufactured under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé between 1885 and 1917.[1] [2] The most famous are his 52 "Imperial" eggs, 46 of which survive, made for the Russian emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers.[3] Fabergé eggs are worth millions of dollars and have become symbols of opulence.[4]
The House of Fabergé was founded by Gustav Fabergé in 1842 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Fabergé egg was a later addition to the product line by his son, Peter Carl Fabergé.
Prior to 1885, Emperor Alexander III gave his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna jeweled Easter eggs. For Easter in 1883, before his coronation, Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna were given eggs, one of which contained a silver dagger and two skulls. The egg came with messages including "Christ is risen" and "You may crush us—but we Nihilists shall rise again!"
Before Easter 1885, Alexander III's brother Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich suggested that Peter Carl Fabergé create a jeweled egg. This type of egg is believed to have been inspired by an ivory hen egg made for the Danish Royal Collection in the 18th century. Known as the Hen Egg, it has a 2.5-inch outer enamel shell and a golden band around the middle. The egg opens to reveal a golden "yolk" within, which opened to reveal a golden hen sitting on golden straw. Inside the hen lay a miniature diamond replica of the Imperial crown and a ruby pendant, though these two elements have been lost.[5] It was given to the tsarina on 1 May 1885. The egg cost 4,151 rubles. Six weeks later, the emperor made Fabergé the supplier to the Imperial Court.
Maria was so delighted by the gift that Alexander appointed Fabergé a "goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown" and commissioned another egg the next year. After that, Peter Carl Fabergé was apparently given complete freedom to design future imperial Easter eggs, and their designs became more elaborate. According to Fabergé family lore, not even the emperor knew what form they would take—the only requirements were that each contain a surprise, and that each be unique. Once Fabergé had approved an initial design, the work was carried out by a team of craftsmen, among them Michael Perkhin, Henrik Wigström, and Erik August Kollin.
After Alexander III's death on 1 November 1894, his son, Nicholas II, presented a Fabergé egg to both his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, and his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Records have shown that of the 50 imperial Easter eggs, 20 were given to the former and 30 to the latter. Eggs were made each year except 1904 and 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War.[6]
The imperial eggs enjoyed great fame. Fabergé was commissioned to make similar eggs for a few private clients, including the Duchess of Marlborough, the Rothschild family, and the Yusupovs. Fabergé was also commissioned to make twelve eggs for the industrialist Alexander Kelch, though only seven appear to have been completed.[7] [8]
Following the revolution and the nationalization of the Fabergé workshop in St. Petersburg by the Bolsheviks in 1918, the Fabergé family left Russia. The Fabergé trademark has since been sold several times, and several companies have retailed egg-related merchandise using the Fabergé name. From 1998 to 2009, the Victor Mayer jewelry company produced limited-edition Fabergé eggs authorized under Unilever's license. The trademark is now owned by Fabergé Limited, which makes egg-themed jewelry.[9]
In 2023, Fabergé debuted Journey in Jewels on Seven Seas Grandeur, a luxury cruise ship from Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The egg will remain on the cruise ship, making it the first ever Fabergé to live at sea.[10]
Below is a chronology of the 52 eggs made for the imperial family. The dating of the eggs has evolved. An earlier chronology dated the Blue Serpent Clock Egg to 1887 and identified the egg of 1895 as the Twelve Monograms Egg. The discovery of the previously lost Third Imperial Easter Egg confirms the chronology below.[11]
| Date | Egg | Image | Description | Owner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Also known as the Jewelled Hen Egg, it was the first in a series of 54 jewelled eggs made for the Russian Imperial family under Fabergé's supervision. It was delivered to Alexander III in 1885. The Tsarina and the Tsar enjoyed the egg so much that Alexander III ordered a new egg from Fabergé for his wife every Easter thereafter. | Viktor Vekselberg | |||
| 1886 | Also known as the Egg with Hen in Basket, it was made in 1886 for Alexander III, who presented it to his wife, the Empress Maria Feodorovna. This 1902 photograph shows Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs belonging to the dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. It is possible that Hen with Sapphire Pendant (Fabergé egg) is among the Fabergé eggs in this picture. | Lost | |||
| 1887 | A jewelled and ridged yellow-gold egg with Vacheron & Constantin watch stands on its original tripod pedestal, which has chased lion paw feet and is encircled by coloured gold garlands suspended from cabochon blue sapphires topped with rose diamond set bows. After being discovered in an American flea market, in 2014 it was purchased by London-based jeweller Wartski on behalf of an unidentified private collector.[12] | Private collection[13] | |||
| 1888 | Also known as the Angel with Egg in Chariot, crafted and delivered in 1888 to Alexander III. This is one of the lost imperial eggs. Few details are known about it. | Lost | |||
| 1889 | Crafted and delivered to Alexander III, who presented it to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, on Easter 1889. Sold 1952 | Lost | |||
| 1890 | Alexander III presented it to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, on Easter 1890. | Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, until 2021[14] | |||
| 1891 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1892 | The surprise, an elephant automaton thought to have been lost for many years, was identified in 2015 as being in the collection of the British Royal Collection Trust.[15] | Dorothy and Artie McFerrin collection, US | |||
| 1893 | Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation, displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City | ||||
| 1894 | One theory is that the surprise is another Fabergé egg, the Resurrection, which perfectly fits the curvature of the Renaissance egg's shell and has a similar decoration in enamel on the base. | Viktor Vekselberg | |||
| 1895 | Viktor Vekselberg | ||||
| 1895 | Before March 2014, it was mistaken for the Third Imperial egg. | Albert II of Monaco collection, Monte-Carlo, Monaco | |||
| 1896 | Also known as the Revolving Miniatures Egg. | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | |||
| 1896 | Also known as the Alexander III Portraits egg.[16] Surprise is missing. | Hillwood Museum, Washington, D.C., US | |||
| 1897 | Viktor Vekselberg | ||||
| 1897 | Only the egg's surprise (pictured) has been found. | Lost Viktor Vekselberg | |||
| 1898 | Made under the supervision of Fabergé in 1898 by Fabergé ateliers. The supervising goldsmith was Michael Perchin. The egg is one of two in the Art Nouveau style. It was presented on 5 April to Tsar Nicholas II and given to the tsaritsa, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. | Viktor Vekselberg | |||
| 1898 | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | ||||
| 1899 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1899 | Also known as the Spinach Jade Egg, made by Fabergé in 1899 for Tsar Nicholas II and given to Empress Maria Feodoronova as a gift. The egg has a mechanism which when pressed will allow the heart inside to open up as a pendant containing pictures of family members. Made of nephrite, silver-gilt, diamonds, white, red, green and opaque violet enamel. Heart surprise made of varicolored gold, diamonds, pearls, enamel, and mother of pearl. | Matilda Gray Stream, US | |||
| 1900 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1900 | Viktor Vekselberg | ||||
| 1901 | Royal Collection, London, United Kingdom | ||||
| 1901 | Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, US | ||||
| 1902 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1902 | Probably a Fauxbergé[17] [18] [19] [20] [21] | Private collection, New York City[22] | |||
| 1903 | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | ||||
| 1903 | Lost | ||||
| 1906 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1906 | Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Switzerland | ||||
| 1907 | Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, US | ||||
| 1907 | Also known as the "Love Trophies" egg | Private collection, Robert M. Lee, US | |||
| 1908 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1908 | The Peacock egg is a jewel and rock crystal Easter egg made by Dorofeiev under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1908. It was made for Nicholas II of Russia, who presented the Fabergé egg to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, in 1908. The transparent egg is composed of rock crystal and gilt silver wire, and is quite simple in style. The genius of the egg lay in its surprise. The egg is held together by a clasp at the top, and when opened, falls into two halves, each with a rococo style mount. | Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Switzerland | |||
| 1909 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1909 | Lost | ||||
| 1910 | Royal Collection, London, UK | ||||
| 1910 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1911 | Viktor Vekselberg | ||||
| 1911 | Also known as the Orange Tree egg. | Viktor Vekselberg | |||
| 1912 | Tsarevich | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | |||
| 1912 | Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation. Displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City | ||||
| 1913 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1913 | Designed by Alma Pihl, the only female and one of the best known Fabergé workmasters, as a gift to Maria Feodorovna by her son Nicholas II. The exterior of the egg resembles frost and ice crystals formed on clear glass. It is studded with 1,660 diamonds and is made from quartz, platinum, and orthoclase. The surprise is a miniature flower basket studded with 1,378 diamonds and is made from platinum and gold, while the flowers are made of white quartz and the leaves of demantoid. The flowers lie in gold moss. The egg is 102 millimeters high. | It was reported that the buyer was Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar.[23] | |||
| 1914 | Royal Collection, London, UK | ||||
| 1914 | Also known as the "Grisaille". The egg was made by Henrik Wigström, "Fabergé's last head workmaster". It was given to Maria Feodorovna by her son Nicholas II. Its surprise (now lost) was "a mechanical sedan chair, carried by two blackamoors, with Catherine the Great seated inside".[24] | Hillwood Museum, Washington, D.C., US | |||
| 1915 | Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, US | ||||
| 1915 | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | ||||
| 1916 | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||||
| 1916 | Made during World War I, the Order of St. George egg commemorates the Order of St. George that was awarded to Emperor Nicholas and his son, the Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaievich. The Order of St. George Egg and its counterpart, the Steel Military Egg, were of modest design, in keeping with the austerity of World War I,[25] and Fabergé billed 13,347 rubles for the two.[26] The Order of St. George egg left Bolshevik Russia with its original recipient, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.[27] | Viktor Vekselberg | |||
| 1917 | Possibly a Fauxbergé | Alexander Ivanov. Displayed at Ivanov's Fabergé Museum in Baden-Baden, Germany. | |||
| 1917 | Because of the 1917 February Revolution and subsequent events, this egg was never finished or presented to Nicholas's wife, the Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna. | Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Moscow, Russia |
Faberge was also commissioned to make eggs for Alexander Ferdinandovich Kelch, a Siberian gold mine industrialist, as gifts for his wife Barbara (Varvara) Kelch-Bazanova. Though still "Fabergé eggs" by virtue of having been produced by his workshop, these seven eggs were not as elaborate as the imperial eggs, and were not unique in design. Most are copies of other eggs.
| Date | Egg | Image | Description | Owner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1898 | Viktor Vekselberg | ||||
| 1899 | Royal Collection, London, UK | ||||
| 1900 | Private collection | ||||
| 1901 | Liechtenstein National Museum | ||||
| 1902 | Dorothy and Artie McFerrin collection | ||||
| 1903 | Estate of the late Kerry Packer | ||||
| 1904 | Viktor Vekselberg |
| Date | Egg | Image | Description | Owner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1885–91 | Blue Striped Enamel | Private collection | |||
| 1902 | Viktor Vekselberg | ||||
| 1902 | Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia | ||||
| 1907 | Yusupov | Louis XVI style. Given to Zinaida Yusupova (7th princess of Yusupovs) by Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston. The egg was left vaulted in Russia when the princess fled the bolshevik revolution, but it was found and sold by Russian officials. Maurice Yves Sandoz bought it in 1953 (hence the "M, Y, S" engraved in the egg's medallions).On display at the Musée d’Horlogerie du Locle.[28] | Sandoz Foundation (since 1995) | ||
| 1914 | Dorothy and Artie McFerrin collection | ||||
| 1885–89 | Almost certainly the surprise from the 1894 Renaissance Egg[29] | Viktor Vekselberg | |||
| 1899–1903 | Viktor Vekselberg | ||||
| 1899–1903 | Viktor Vekselberg |
Of the 52 known Fabergé eggs,[30] 46 have survived to the present day. Ten of the imperial Easter eggs are displayed at Moscow's Kremlin Armory Museum.[31] Of the 50 delivered[32] imperial eggs, 44 have survived, and there are photographs of three of the six lost eggs: the 1903 Royal Danish Egg, the 1909 Alexander III Commemorative Egg, and the Nécessaire Egg of 1889.[22] The previously lost Third Imperial Easter Egg of 1887 has since been found in the US and bought by Wartski for a private collector.[33] All six of the missing Imperial Eggs belonged to Maria Feodorovna.[34]
After the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks nationalized the House of Fabergé, and the Fabergé family fled to Switzerland, where Peter Carl Fabergé died in 1920.[31] The imperial family's palaces were ransacked and their treasures moved to the Kremlin Armoury on order of Vladimir Lenin.[31]
In a bid to acquire more foreign currency, Joseph Stalin had many of the eggs sold in 1927, after their value had been appraised by Agathon Carl Theodor Fabergé. Between 1930 and 1933, 14 imperial eggs left Russia. Many of the eggs were sold to Armand Hammer (president of Occidental Petroleum and a personal friend of Lenin, whose father was founder of the United States Communist Party) and to Emanuel Snowman of the London antique dealers Wartski.
After the collection in the Kremlin Armoury, the largest gathering of Fabergé eggs was assembled by Malcolm Forbes, and displayed in New York City. Totaling nine eggs, and approximately 180 other Fabergé objects, the collection was to be put up for auction at Sotheby's in February 2004 by Forbes' heirs. However, before the auction began, the collection was purchased in its entirety by the oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.[35] In a 2013 BBC Four documentary, Vekselberg revealed he had spent just over $100 million purchasing the nine Fabergé eggs.[36] He claims never to have displayed them in his home, saying he bought them as they are important to Russian history and culture, and he believed them to be the best jewelry art in the world. In the same BBC documentary, Vekselberg revealed he plans to open a museum that will display the eggs in his collection,[36] which was built as a private Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 19 November 2013.[37] [38]
In November 2007, a Fabergé clock, named by Christie's auction house as the Rothschild Egg, sold at auction for £8.9 million ($16.5 million) (including commission).[39] The price achieved by the egg set three auction records: it is the most expensive timepiece, Russian object, and Fabergé object ever sold at auction, surpassing the $9.6 million sale of the 1913 Winter Egg in 2002.[40] [41]
In 1989, as part of the San Diego Arts Festival, 26 Fabergé eggs were loaned for display at the San Diego Museum of Art, the largest exhibition of Fabergé eggs anywhere since the Russian Revolution.[42] The eggs included eight from the Kremlin,[43] nine from the Forbes collection,[44] three from the New Orleans Museum of Art,[45] two from the Royal Collection[46] one from the Cleveland Museum of Art[47] and three from private collections.[48]
| Location/Owner | Number of Eggs | Eggs in collection | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viktor Vekselberg's Link of Times foundation, Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia | 2 | Kelch Hen, Chanticleer | |
| Royal Collection, London, UK | 1 | Twelve Panel | |
| Liechtenstein National Museum | 1 | Apple Blossom | |
| Dorothy and Artie McFerrin collection | 1 | Rocaille | |
| Separate private collections | 2 | Pine Cone, Bonbonnière |
| Location/owner | Number of eggs | Eggs in collection | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viktor Vekselberg's Link of Times foundation, Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia | 4 | Duchess of Marlborough, Resurrection, Spring Flowers, Scandinavian | |
| 1 | Lapis Lazuli | ||
| Dorothy and Artie McFerrin collection | 1 | Nobel Ice | |
| Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Lausanne, Switzerland | 1 | Youssoupov | |
| Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia | 1 | Rothschild | |
| Separate private collections | 2 | Blue Striped Enamel, Rose Quartz |
Fabergé eggs have acquired a cult status in the art world and popular culture. Featured in exhibitions, films, TV series, documentaries, cartoons, publications, and the news, they continue to intrigue. They have become symbols of the splendor, power and wealth of the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Empire, priceless treasures to hunt, steal, etc.
As such, they have been part of the plot in several films and television series, including Octopussy (1983), Mr. Belvedere ("Strike" episode, 1985), Love Among Thieves (1987), Murder She Wrote episode "An Egg to Die For" (1994), The Simpsons episode 'Round Springfield" (1995) (in which jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy talks about his addiction to buying Fabergé eggs), (1999), The Order (2001), Relic Hunter episode "M.I.A." (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004), The Simpsons episode "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas" (2005), SpongeBob SquarePants episode "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?" (2008), Thick as Thieves (2009), multiple episodes of White Collar (TV series) (2009 - 2014), a 2010 episode of the TV series Leverage ("The Zanzibar Marketplace Job"), the American Dad! episode "A Jones for a Smith" (2010), The Intouchables (2011), Hustle episode "Eat Yourself Slender" (2012), many episodes of "Riverdale" belonging to Veronica Lodge, Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode "The House of the Nightmare Witch" (2012), Person of Interest episode "Search and Destroy" (2015), Imperial Eight (2015),[49] the British crime drama series Peaky Blinders ("Lilies of the Valley" egg, season 3, episode 6, 2016) and s3e5, Hooten & the Lady episode "Moscow" (2016),[50] Game Night (2018), (2019), (2020), Lupin (2021), Bhamakalapam (2022).[51] and The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (2023)
In Danielle Steele's 1988 novel Zoya, a Fabergé egg is a keepsake of the last two remaining members of a noble family. The 2011 digital card game features Fabergé egg as a collectible card. In 2017, visual artist Jonathan Monaghan exhibited a series of digital prints re-interpreting Fabergé eggs in humorous and surreal ways at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.[52]
In M. J. Rose's 2021 novel The Last Tiara, the main character discovers a Fabergé tiara in her late mother's apartment. This discovery sets her off on a journey to discover how the tiara came into her mother's possession and if her father, a Fabergé workman, was involved.