Fabergé egg

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A Fabergé egg is any one of fifty (fifty two, including the unfinished Karelian Birch and Tsarevich Constellation examples) Easter eggs made by Peter Carl Fabergé for the Russian Czars between 1885 and 1917. 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 jeweller's art.

Contents 1 Overview 2 List of Fabergé eggs 3 Fabergé eggs in popular culture 3.1 Movies 3.2 The Simpsons 3.3 Other Television 3.4 Video games 3.5 Music 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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. Nicholas II continued the tradition, expanding it to include an annual gift for his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna as well as his now-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 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 1930, Stalin sold fourteen to raise cash, some for as little as US$400^{[citation needed]}. Many of these were bought by Armand Hammer and Emmanuel Snowman of Wartski, the English Fabergé dealers.

As of 2006, just twenty-one eggs were still in Russia, most on display at the Kremlin Armory Museum. Nine 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.

[edit] List of Fabergé eggs

• 1885 Hen (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1886 Hen with Sapphire Pendant (missing)
• 1887 Blue Serpent Clock (Prince Rainier III of Monaco Collection, Monaco)
• 1888 Cherub with Chariot (missing)
• 1889 Necessaire (missing)
• 1890 Danish Palaces (New Orleans Museum of Art, USA)
• 1891 Memory of Azov (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1892 Diamond Trellis (private collection)
• 1893 Caucasus (New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA)
• 1894 Renaissance (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1895 Rosebud (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1895 Twelve Monograms (Hillwood Museum, Washington, DC, USA)
• 1896 Revolving Miniatures (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, USA)
• 1896 Alexander III (missing)
• 1897 Coronation (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1897 Mauve Enamel (missing)
• 1898 Lilies of the Valley (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1898 Pelican (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, USA)
• 1899 Bouquet of Lilies Clock (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1899 Pansy (private collection)
• 1899 Spring Flowers (owned by Malcolm Forbes)[1]
• 1900 Trans-Siberian Railway (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1901 Basket of Wild Flowers (Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
• 1901 Gatchina Palace (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA)
• 1902 Clover (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1902 Empire Nephrite (missing)
• 1903 Peter the Great (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, USA)
• 1903 Danish Jubilee (missing)
• 1903 Chanticleer (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1906 Moscow Kremlin (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1906 Swan (Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Switzerland)
• 1907 Rose Trellis (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA)
• 1907 Cradle with Garlands (private collection)
• 1908 Alexander Palace (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1908 Peacock (Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Switzerland)
• 1909 Standart Yacht (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1909 Alexander II Commemorative (missing)
• 1910 Alexander III Equestrian (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1910 Colonnade (Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
• 1911 Bay Tree (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1911 Fifteenth Anniversary (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1912 Czarevich (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, USA)
• 1912 Napoleonic (New Orleans Museum of Art, USA)
• 1913 Romanov Tercentenary (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1913 Winter (private collection)
• 1914 Mosaic (Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
• 1914 Grisaille (Hillwood Museum, Washington, DC)
• 1915 Red Cross with Imperial Portraits (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, USA)
• 1915 Red Cross with Triptych (Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)
• 1916 Order of St. George (Vekselberg Collection, Russia)
• 1916 Steel Military (Kremlin Armoury Museum, Moscow)
• 1917 Constellation (Fersman Mineralogical Institute, Moscow)
• 1917 Birch (Russian National Museum, Moscow)

'Alexander III Equestrian' Egg

The Memory of Azov Egg

The Twelve Monograms Egg

The Peter The Great Egg

[edit] Fabergé eggs in popular culture

[edit] Movies

• The fictional theft of the Coronation egg is featured in the films Octopussy (1983) and 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 slingshoted 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 a Fabergé egg and jewelry box.

[edit] The Simpsons

• Mr. Burns has about 12 Fabergé eggs stashed away in a vault in his basement in an episode of The Simpsons, and Marge steals one to help raise money for charity, by hiding it in her trademark blue hair.
• 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. A reluctant egg salesman angers Bleeding Gums, who retorts, "I'll tell you when I've had enough!"
• Kearney in the episode The Joy of Sect discovers a case of Fabergé eggs at Springfield Airport when he and Jimbo Jones and Dolph each steal a suitcase. It is not known if these are part of Mr. Burns' collection as referenced above. Kearney refers to them as a "bunch of fruity Easter eggs" and later smashes one of them, confirming his comment.

[edit] Other Television

• An episode of Out of This World depicted Uncle Beano demonstrating one of the artifacts to Evie. "This is your grandmother's priceless Faberge egg." he proclaims, and clumsily drops it. "Now it's her priceless Faberge omelett."

• 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 Timmy Turner wishes that the whole world was mute and during the episode he knockes 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 and they fall down in a domino style chain reaction, a Faberge egg was inside one of the cases along with other valuable artifacts, the cases and all the artifacts within them were destroyed along with the Faberge egg. This episode was titled Pipe Down

[edit] Video games

• In the LucasArts game The Curse of Monkey Island, the protagonist, Guybrush Theepwood, 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 mud pit, and has all the items in his pants, egg included, sucked out by the mud.

• In the Japanese video game Shadow Hearts: Covenant the playable character Princess Anastasia Romanov fights with a Fabergé egg.

[edit] Music

• The Spring Flowers egg is featured on the cover of Lou Reed's debut solo album Lou Reed.

[edit] See also

• Easter eggs
• Egg decorating
• Guilloché

[edit] External links

• The Fabergé Eggs: An Illustrated Overview
• Fabergé Research Site by Christel Ludewig McCanless
• Details on all Fabergé Eggs, Tsar Imperial, Imperial and Kelch
• Details on each of the Fabergé Eggs
• BYU article on the eggs
• Reviews on the Fabergé Eggs
• The Fabergé Egg History
• The Fabergé Egg - Russian fans' site