Fabergé egg 327475 225826728 2008-07-15T16:09:03Z Gareth E Kegg 254396 RV bizzare edits. [[Image:Moscow Kremlin Egg.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[Moscow Kremlin (Fabergé Egg)|Moscow Kremlin]] egg, 1906.]] [[Image:Madonna Lily Egg.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Bouquet of Lilies Clock (Fabergé egg)|Bouquet of Lilies Clock egg]].]] A '''Fabergé egg''' is any one of sixty-nine<ref>http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/Eggs.htm List of Fabergé eggs from mieks.com</ref> [[Jewelery|jeweled]] eggs made by [[Peter Carl Fabergé]] and his assistants between 1885 and 1917. Fifty Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs were made and presented to Czars [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]] and [[Nicholas II of Russia]]<ref>The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs,by Fabergé, Skurlov, Proler, London, 1997, page 90. ISBN 0-90343-248-X</ref>. A further two eggs were planned but not delivered, the ''[[Constellation (Fabergé egg)|Constellation]]'' and ''[[Karelian Birch (Fabergé egg)|Karelian Birch]]'' eggs of 1917. Seven of the eggs were made for the Kelch family of Moscow.<ref>http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/Kelch-Eggs/Kelch-Eggs.htm Story of the Kelch eggs from mieks.com</ref> The eggs are made of precious metals or hard stones decorated with combinations of [[Vitreous enamel|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. ==History== Carl Fabergé and his [[goldsmith]]s designed and constructed the first egg in 1885. It was commissioned by Czar [[Alexander III of Russia]] as an [[Easter]] surprise for his wife [[Dagmar of Denmark|Maria Fyodorovna]].<ref>http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/1885-Hen-Egg.htm Article on the first Hen egg</ref> On the outside it looked like a simple egg of white [[vitreous enamel|enamel]]led [[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 doll|matryoshka nesting dolls]]. Empress 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 each spring to his wife [[Alexandra of Hesse|Alexandra Fyodorovna]] as well as his then-widowed mother. From 1885, the eggs were produced almost every year. Once an initial design was approved, the work was carried out by an entire team of artisans under [[Peter Carl Fabergé]], among them [[Michael Perkhin]], [[Henrik Wigström]] and [[Erik August Kollin]]. The Imperial eggs enjoyed such fame that Fabergé made some 15 known eggs for private clients. Among them is a series of 7 eggs made for the industrialist '''Alexander Kelch'''. In addition, 8 eggs were made. They are not as extravagant as the Imperial eggs, and are not as original, often repeating designs that originated with the Imperial eggs. ==List of Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs== {{MultiCol}} *1885 ''[[Hen (Fabergé egg)|Hen]]'' *1886 ''[[Hen with Sapphire Pendant (Fabergé egg)|Hen with Sapphire Pendant]]''† *1887 ''[[Blue Serpent Clock (Fabergé egg)|Blue Serpent Clock]]'' *1888 ''[[Cherub with Chariot (Fabergé egg)|Cherub with Chariot]]''† *1889 ''[[Necessaire (Fabergé egg)|Necessaire]]''† *1890 ''[[Danish Palaces (Fabergé egg)|Danish Palaces]]'' *1891 ''[[Memory of Azov (Fabergé egg)|Memory of Azov]]'' *1892 ''[[Diamond Trellis (Fabergé egg)|Diamond Trellis]]'' *1893 ''[[Caucasus (Fabergé egg)|Caucasus]]'' *1894 ''[[Renaissance (Fabergé egg)|Renaissance]]'' *1895 ''[[Rosebud (Fabergé egg)|Rosebud]]'' *1895 ''[[Twelve Monograms (Fabergé egg)|Twelve Monograms]]'' *1896 ''[[Revolving Miniatures (Fabergé egg)|Revolving Miniatures]]'' *1896 ''[[Alexander III Portraits (Fabergé egg)|Alexander III Portraits]]''† *1897 ''[[Coronation (Fabergé egg)|Coronation]]'' *1897 ''[[Dowager (or Pelican) (Fabergé egg)|Doweger (or Pelican)]]'' *1898 ''[[Lilies of the Valley (Fabergé egg)|Lilies of the Valley]]'' {{ColBreak}} *1898 ''[[Mauve (Fabergé egg)|Mauve]]''† *1899 ''[[Bouquet of Lilies Clock (Fabergé egg)|Bouquet of Lilies Clock]]'' *1899 ''[[Pansy (Fabergé egg)|Pansy]]'' *1900 ''[[Trans-Siberian Railway (Fabergé egg)|Trans-Siberian Railway]]'' *1900 ''[[Cockerel (Fabergé egg)|Cockerel]]'' *1901 ''[[Basket of Wild Flowers (Fabergé egg)|Basket of Wild Flowers]]'' *1901 ''[[Gatchina Palace (Fabergé egg)|Gatchina Palace]]'' *1902 ''[[Clover Leaf (Fabergé egg)|Clover Leaf]]'' *1902 ''[[Empire Nephrite (Fabergé egg)|Empire Nephrite]]''† *1903 ''[[Peter the Great (Fabergé egg)|Peter the Great]]'' *1903 ''[[Royal Danish (Fabergé egg)|Royal Danish]]''† *1904 ''No eggs known'' *1905 ''No eggs known'' *1906 ''[[Moscow Kremlin (Fabergé egg)|Moscow Kremlin]]'' *1906 ''[[Swan (Fabergé egg)|Swan]]'' *1907 ''[[Rose Trellis (Fabergé egg)|Rose Trellis]]'' *1907 ''[[Cradle with Garlands (Fabergé egg)|Cradle with Garlands]]'' *1908 ''[[Alexander Palace (Fabergé egg)|Alexander Palace]]'' *1908 ''[[Peacock (Fabergé egg)|Peacock]]'' {{ColBreak}} *1909 ''[[Standart Yacht (Fabergé egg)|Standart Yacht]]'' *1909 ''[[Alexander III Commemorative (Fabergé egg)|Alexander III Commemorative]]''† *1910 ''[[Colonnade (Fabergé egg)|Colonnade]]'' *1910 ''[[Alexander III Equestrian (Fabergé egg)|Alexander III Equestrian]]'' *1911 ''[[Fifteenth Anniversary (Fabergé egg)|Fifteenth Anniversary]]'' *1911 ''[[Bay Tree (Fabergé egg)|Bay Tree]]'' *1912 ''[[Czarevich (Fabergé egg)|Czarevich]]'' *1912 ''[[Napoleonic (Fabergé egg)|Napoleonic]]'' *1913 ''[[Romanov Tercentenary (Fabergé egg)|Romanov Tercentenary]]'' *1913 ''[[Winter (Fabergé egg)|Winter]]'' *1914 ''[[Mosaic (Fabergé egg)|Mosaic]]'' *1914 ''[[Grisaille (Fabergé egg)|Grisaille]]'' *1915 ''[[Red Cross with Triptych (Fabergé egg)|Red Cross with Triptych]]'' *1915 ''[[Red Cross with Imperial Portraits (Fabergé egg)|Red Cross with Imperial Portraits]]'' *1916 ''[[Steel Military (Fabergé egg)|Steel Military]]'' *1916 ''[[Order of St. George (Fabergé egg)|Order of St. George]]'' *1917 ''[[Karelian Birch (Fabergé egg)|Karelian Birch]]'' *1917 ''[[Constellation (Fabergé egg)|Constellation]]'' {{EndMultiCol}} :''<nowiki>†</nowiki> Indicates missing egg ==Other Imperial eggs== *1885-1889 ''[[Resurrection (Fabergé egg)|Resurrection]]'' *1899-1903 ''[[Spring Flowers (Fabergé egg)|Spring Flowers]]'' ==List of Fabergé Kelch eggs== *1898 ''[[Kelch Hen (Fabergé egg)|Kelch Hen]]'' *1899 ''[[Twelve Panel (Fabergé egg)|Twelve Panel]]'' *1900 ''[[Pine Cone (Fabergé egg)|Pine Cone]]'' *1901 ''[[Apple Blossom (Fabergé egg)|Apple Blossom]]'' *1902 ''[[Rocaille (Fabergé egg)|Rocaille]]'' *1903 ''[[Kelch Bonbonnière (Fabergé egg)|Kelch Bonbonnière]]'' *1904 ''[[Kelch Chanticleer (Fabergé egg)|Kelch Chanticleer]]'' ==Other Fabergé eggs== *1885-1891 ''[[Blue Enamel Ribbed (Fabergé egg)|Blue Enamel Ribbed]]'' *1899-1903 ''[[Scandinavian (Fabergé egg)|Scandinavian]]'' *1902 ''[[Duchess of Marlborough (Fabergé egg)|Duchess of Marlborough]]'' *1902 ''[[Rothschild (Fabergé egg)|Rothschild]]'' *1907 ''[[Youssoupov (Fabergé egg)|Youssoupov]]'' *1914 ''[[Nobel Ice (Fabergé egg)|Nobel Ice]]'' *1917 ''[[Night (Fabergé egg)|Night]]'' *Unknown date ''[[Lapis Lazuli (Fabergé egg)|Lapis Lazuli]]'' == Location of eggs == {| align = "right" class = "standard" border = "0" width = "40%" | '''Location of the Fabergé eggs''' ! | Number |----- |'''Imperial:''' |'''54''' |----- | [[Kremlin Armoury|Kremlin Armory Museum]], ([[Moscow]], [[Russia]]) | 10 |----- | [[Viktor Vekselberg]] collection, ([[Russia]]) (formerly Forbes) | 11 |----- | [[Virginia Museum of Fine Arts]], ([[Richmond, Virginia]], [[United States|USA]]) | 5 |----- | [[New Orleans Museum of Art]], ([[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]]) | 3 |----- | [[Royal Collection]], ([[London]], [[United Kingdom|UK]]) | 3 |----- | [[Sandoz|Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation]], ([[Switzerland]]) | 2 |----- | [[Hillwood Museum]], ([[Washington, D.C]], [[United States|USA]]) | 2 |----- | [[Walters Art Museum]], ([[Baltimore, Maryland]], [[United States|USA]]) | 2 |----- | [[Cleveland Museum of Art]], ([[Cleveland, Ohio]], [[USA]]) | 1 |----- | [[Albert II, Prince of Monaco|Albert II of Monaco]] collection, ([[Monte-Carlo]], [[Monaco]]) | 1 |----- | [[Russian National Museum]], ([[Moscow]], [[Russia]]) | 1 |----- | [[Fersman Mineralogical Institute]], ([[Moscow]], [[Russia]]) | 1 |----- | Private Collection | 4 |----- | Location Unknown | 8 |----- |'''Kelch:''' |'''7''' |----- | [[Viktor Vekselberg]] collection, ([[Russia]]) (formerly Forbes) | 2 |----- | [[Royal Collection]], ([[London]], [[United Kingdom|UK]]) | 1 |----- | Private Collection | 4 |----- |'''Others:''' |'''8''' |----- | [[Viktor Vekselberg]] collection, ([[Russia]]) (formerly Forbes) | 2 |----- | [[Cleveland Museum of Art]], ([[Cleveland, Ohio]], [[USA]]) | 1 |----- | [[Sandoz|Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation]], ([[Switzerland]]) | 1 |----- | [[Russian National Museum]], ([[Moscow]], [[Russia]]) | 1 |----- | Private Collection | 3 | |} 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,<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/0412/233.html Egg Hunting, Pro Division - Forbes.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> the 1903 ''[[Royal Danish (Fabergé egg)|Royal Danish]]'', and the 1909 ''[[Alexander III Commemorative (Fabergé egg)|Alexander III Commemorative]]'' eggs. Only one, 1916's ''[[Order of St. George (Fabergé egg)|Order of St. George]]'' egg, left [[Bolshevik Russia]] with its original recipient, the Dowager Empress [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Maria Feodorovna]].<ref>[http://www.treasuresofimperialrussia.com/e_chap11_srgeorge.html Faberge - Treasures of Imperial Russia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The rest remained in [[St. Petersberg|Petrograd]]. Following the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|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.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/faberge/flevel_1/f7_fate_of_eggs.html Faberge Eggs - the fate of the eggs<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The [[House of Romanov|Romanov]] palaces were ransacked and their treasures moved on order of [[Vladimir Lenin]] to the [[Kremlin Armoury]].<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/faberge/flevel_1/f7_fate_of_eggs.html Faberge Eggs - the fate of the eggs<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 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 [[Communist Party USA|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 9 eggs, and approximately 180 other faberge objects, the collection was put up for auction at [[Sotheby's]] in February 2004 by Forbes heirs. Before the auction even began the Forbes collection was purchased in its entirety by the [[oligarch]] [[Victor Vekselberg]] for a sum estimated between $90 and $120 million. The imperial eggs in the collection included the first egg, the Hen Egg and the famed Coronation Egg (featured in the 2004 film [[Ocean's 12]].) <ref>[http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=681 Energy Tribune<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In November 2007, a Fabergé clock, named by [[Christie's]] [[auction house]] as the 'Rothschild Egg' sold at auction for [[£]]8.9 million (including commission).<ref>The clock was previously documented and had been published in 1964 in L'Objet 1900 by Maurice Rheims, plate 29</ref> The price achieved set two records for auction: it is the most expensive [[timepiece]] ever sold at auction and the most expensive Russian object, including previous Faberge Eggs, ever sold at auction, surpassing the [[United States dollar|$]]9.6 million sale of the 1913 [[Winter (Fabergé egg)|Winter egg]] in 2002. ==See also== {{commonscat|Fabergé eggs}} <br> <gallery> Image:Equestrian Egg.jpg|'Alexander III Equestrian' Egg Image:Memory of Azov Egg.jpg|The Memory of Azov Egg Image:peterthegreategg.JPG|The Peter The Great Egg Image:Coronation Egg.jpg|The Imperical Coronation Egg </gallery> *[[Easter egg]]s *[[Egg decorating]] *[[Guilloché]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== <!-- Do not add any external links here without first posting them on the talk page for discussion!--> *[http://users.vnet.net/schulman/Faberge/eggs.html The Fabergé Eggs: An Illustrated Overview] *[http://home.hiwaay.net/~christel/index.html Fabergé Research Site by Christel Ludewig McCanless] *[http://mieks.com/Faberge2/index2.htm Details on all Fabergé Eggs, Tsar Imperial, Imperial and Kelch] *[http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fab/fab00.html Details on each of the Fabergé Eggs] *[http://germslav.byu.edu/perspectives/2003/Bailey.html BYU article on the eggs] *[http://www.fabergeeggs.org The Fabergé Egg History] *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7116956.stm Rothschild Fabergé Egg] [[Category:Fabergé eggs|*]] [[Category:House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov| ]] [[Category:Decorative arts]] [[Category:Jewellery]] [[bg:Яйце на Фаберже]] [[de:Fabergé-Ei]] [[es:Huevo de Fabergé]] [[fr:Œuf de Fabergé]] [[it:Uovo Fabergé]] [[ka:ფაბერჟეს კვერცხები]] [[nl:Fabergé-ei]] [[ja:インペリアル・イースター・エッグ]] [[no:Fabergéegg]] [[pl:Jaja carskie]] [[pt:Ovo Fabergé]] [[ru:Яйца Фаберже]] [[sr:Фабержеово јаје]] [[fi:Fabergén pääsiäismunat]] [[sv:Fabergéägg]] [[tr:Faberge Yumurtaları]] [[zh:法貝熱之蛋]]