Faberge Easter Eggs

I've always been fascinated by the Faberge eggs and Easter weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to read more about them and share my favourite one with you!

Faberge eggs are jewelled eggs made to contain objets d'art. They were created in Saint Petersburg in Russia by the jewellery firm House of Faberge and 69 of them were made, but only 57 survive today. Carl Faberge supervised the making of them all between 1885 and 1917. The most famous of them are the 52 Imperial eggs which were made for the Russian Tsars as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers. They are worth millions of pounds and are signs of opulence.

Before Easter in 1885, Alexander III's brother Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich suggested that Peter Carl Fabergé create a jeweled egg. It was 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 round the middle. The egg opens to reveal a golden "yolk" within, which opened to reveal a golden sitting on golden straw.  Inside the hen lay a miniature diamond replica of the Imperial crown and a ruby pendant.  It was given to the on 1 May 1885. 

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 Tsar knew what form they would take—the only requirements were that each contain a surprise, and that each be unique.

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This Rosebud Faberge egg is my favourite. It was the first egg which Nicholas presented to his wife, Alexandra. She missed her rose garden and on the first Easter she spent with her new husband, he gifted her this egg to remind her of the beauty of her own roses. The Empress was German and the german climate being a lot milder than the Russian one, meant that this yellow rose could flourish in Germany but wasn't hardy enough for Saint Petersburg. The yellow China tea roses were brought from China and were the most valued in Germany.

The egg itself opens to contain a rosebud and inside were 2 surprises , a miniature version of the Imperial Crown of Russia embellished with diamonds and rubies and an egg shaped ruby pendant. This egg is considered to be the most valuable of the Faberge eggs. In 2014, the last known sale of a Fabergé egg (the Winter Egg) occurred at auction for a reported $30 million. Given the Rosebud Egg's similar historical significance and craftsmanship, it is likely to have a similar price tag!

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If you're interested in seeing the Rosebud Egg in person, you would need to visit the Kremlin Armoury Museum in Moscow. Good luck with that trip.....

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