A Fabergé egg is any one of sixty-nine[1] jewelled eggs made by Peter Carl Fabergé and his assistants between 1885 and 1917. Fifty-four[2] of the eggs were made for Alexander III and Nicholas II of Russia, fifty-two of which were presented as Easter eggs. Seven of the eggs were made for the Kelch family of Moscow.[3] The eggs are made of precious metals or hard stones decorated with combinations of enamel and gem stones. The term "Fabergé Egg" has become a synonym of luxury and the eggs are regarded as masterpieces of the jeweler's art.
Contents |
Overview
Fabergé and his goldsmiths designed and constructed the first egg in 1885. It was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III of Russia as an Easter surprise for his wife Maria Fyodorovna.[4] On the outside it looked like a simple egg of white enamelled gold, but it opened up to reveal a golden yolk. The yolk itself had a golden hen inside it, which in turn had a tiny crown with a ruby hanging inside, reminiscent of the matryoshka nesting dolls. Maria was so delighted by this gift that Alexander appointed Fabergé a "Court Supplier" and commissioned an Easter gift each year thereafter, stipulating only that it be unique and contain a surprise. His son, Nicholas II of Russia continued the tradition, annually presenting an egg to his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna as well as his then-widowed mother.
As the House of Fabergé prospered (due in no small part to the cachet of imperial patronage), the preparation of the eggs came to take up an entire year; once a concept was chosen, a team of artisans worked to assemble the project. The themes and appearance of the eggs varied widely. For instance, on the outside, the Trans-Siberian Railway Egg of 1900 was dominated by a dull metallic gray band with a map of the railway's route, but inside it had an entire tiny train in gold. Fifty-seven Imperial eggs were produced in all. The Order of St. George Egg left Russia with Maria Fyodorovna in 1918, but the rest, forgotten in the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, remained. Several disappeared in the looting, and the rest were boxed up in the vaults of the Kremlin. In and after 1925, Stalin sold fourteen to raise cash, some for as little as US$400 . Many of these were bought by Armand Hammer and Emmanuel Snowman of Wartski, the English jewellers who made a reputation as Fabergé dealers. As of 2006, just twenty-one eggs were still in Russia, most on display at the Kremlin Armory Museum. Fifteen eggs were purchased by Viktor Vekselberg in February 2004 from the Forbes family in New York City. The Vekselberg collection arrived in Russia in July 2004. Smaller collections are in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, New Orleans Museum of Art, and other museums around the world. Four eggs are in private collections, and eight are still missing. In modern times Victor Mayer, the inheritor of the Fabergé brand, creates "Fabergé eggs" that are inspired by the originals.
List of Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs
|
|
|
- † Indicates missing egg
Other Imperial eggs
- 1885-1889 Resurrection
- 1899-1903 Spring Flowers
List of Fabergé Kelch eggs
- 1898 Kelch Hen
- 1899 Twelve Panel
- 1900 Pine Cone
- 1901 Apple Blossom
- 1902 Rocaille
- 1903 Kelch Bonbonnière
- 1904 Chanticleer
Other Fabergé eggs
- 1885-1891 Blue Enamel Ribbed
- 1899-1903 Scandinavian
- 1902 Duchess of Marlborough
- 1902 Rothschild
- 1907 Youssoupov
- 1914 Nobel Ice
- 1917 Night
- Unknown date Lapis Lazuli
Location of eggs
Of the 69 known Fabergé eggs, only 61 have survived to the present day. The vast majority of them are stored in public museums, with the greatest number, 30, in Russia. There are 54 known Imperial eggs. Only 46 have survived. Of the lost eight Imperial eggs, photographs only exist of two,[5] the 1903 Royal Danish, and the 1909 Alexander III Commemorative eggs. Only one, 1916's Order of St. George egg, left Bolshevik Russia with its original recipient, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.[6] The rest remained in Petrograd. Following the Russian Revolution, the House of Fabergé was nationalized by the Bolsheviks, and the Fabergé family fled to Switzerland, where Peter Carl Fabergé died in 1920.[7] The Romanov palaces were ransacked and their treasures moved on order of Vladimir Lenin to the Kremlin Armoury.[8] 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 Fabergé. Between 1930 and 1933 fourteen 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 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. Totalling 15 eggs, 11 of which were Imperial, the collection was put up for auction at Sotheby's in February 2004 by Forbes heirs. The Forbes collection was purchased in its entirety by the oligarch Victor Vekselberg for almost $100 million.[9]
Fabergé eggs in popular culture
Movies
- The fictional theft of the Coronation egg is featured in the James Bond film Octopussy (1983) and in Ocean's Twelve (2003).
- A Franklin Mint replica of a Fabergé egg is featured in Serial Mom.
- The fictional theft of an 1890 Russian Fabergé egg is featured in What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001).
- When Peter Griffin is catapulted in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005) a Fabergé egg is placed in the middle of a set of dominoes
- In the movie Freejack, Mick Jagger's character, Victor Vacendak, tosses a Fabergé egg across the room and causes it to break in the hands of its owner who, while sitting at his desk, was not able to catch it intact. (1992).
- In the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Jim Williams owns 3 Fabergé eggs, a photo album and a jewelry box.
- In Detective Conan: The Last Wizard of the Century, Kaitou Kid plans to steal a Russian Imperial Easter Egg, the Memories Egg.
- In Little Einsteins: Rocket's Firebird Rescue, A Fabergé egg is used to be the birth of a legless dragon.
- In The Princess Diaries a fictional Fabergé merry-go-round was created for Mia that was a gift from her father for her birthday. In the special features commentary with actress Julie Andrews (who played Clarisse Renaldi, Mia's grandmother) and director Garry Marshall it was revealed this egg was made at request because Fabergé doesn't make merry-go-rounds.
Television
- Fabergé eggs are mentioned in several episodes of The Simpsons. Thus, Mr. Burns has about 12 Fabergé eggs stashed away in a vault in his basement in the episode "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas". In "'Round Springfield", Bleeding Gums Murphy recounts how he used all of the money earned from his success on his $1500 a day Fabergé egg habit.
- An episode of Out of This World depicted Uncle Beano demonstrating one of the artifacts to Evie. "This is your grandmother's priceless Fabergé egg," he proclaims as he clumsily drops it. "Now it's her priceless Fabergé omelette."
- An episode of Jimmy Neutron depicted Jimmy breaking into a museum replacing the egg with an identical fake.
- In an episode of Fairly Odd Parents, "Pipe Down", Timmy Turner wishes that the whole world was mute. During the episode, he knocks over a bookcase, and a bowling ball from the top of the bookcase comes rolling towards several display cases lined up in his living room. They fall down in a domino style chain reaction, and a Fabergé egg and other artifacts inside are destroyed.
- Comedian Jimmy Fallon says "they" should use bald eagle heads and Fabergé Eggs as an alternative fuel in an episode of Saturday Night Live.
- In an episode of Savannah, Peyton Richards, played by actress Jamie Luner, offered to give Edward Burton's (played by Ray Wise) stolen Fabergé egg to a stripper nicknamed "Bunny" to cover up her expenses for leaving town, after she (Bunny) was suspected of killing Travis Peterson, played by George Eads pre-CSI fame.
Video games
- In the LucasArts game The Curse of Monkey Island, the protagonist, Guybrush Threepwood, finds a Fabergé egg in the stomach of a constrictor snake which has swallowed him. Collecting the item is a futile task, however; he promptly loses it when he is spit out by the constrictor, falls into a quicksand pit, and has all the items in his pants, egg included, sucked out by the quicksand.
- In the Japanese video game Shadow Hearts: Covenant the playable character Princess Anastasia Romanov fights with a Fabergé egg.
- In the Smoking Car Productions game The Last Express, the plot revolves around Fabergé egg with different nations seeking it filled with an underlying mystery
- In the RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 expansion pack Wacky Worlds, there is a Fabergé egg themed spinning ride that can be used.
Music
- The Spring Flowers egg is featured on the cover of Lou Reed's debut solo album Lou Reed.
Magazines
- The British adult humour magazine Viz once held a spoof advertisement for a "Fabergé fried egg", commissioned by the fictional czar "Nicholas III of Russia".
See also
 'Alexander III Equestrian' Egg |
 The Memory of Azov Egg |
 The Twelve Monograms Egg |
 The Peter The Great Egg |
References
- ^ http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/Eggs.htm List of Fabergé eggs from mieks.com
- ^ http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/Eggs.htm List of Fabergé eggs from mieks.com
- ^ http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/Kelch-Eggs/Kelch-Eggs.htm Story of the Kelch eggs from mieks.com
- ^ http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/1885-Hen-Egg.htm Article on the first Hen egg
- ^ http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/0412/233.html
- ^ http://www.treasuresofimperialrussia.com/e_chap11_srgeorge.html
- ^ http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/faberge/flevel_1/f7_fate_of_eggs.html
- ^ http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/faberge/flevel_1/f7_fate_of_eggs.html
- ^ http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=681
