the stories behind the world’s most extravagant Easter eggs

The term “Faberge egg” is a symbol of over-the-top extravagance, but I’m going to bet most people don’t know the story/stories behind the world’s most expensive Easter gifts. While there are a lot of theories about what the eggs meant to the fall of the Romanov dynasty, I’m going to keep this post strictly about the eggs themselves. I will talk about the history behind their conception, how they were made, and the insane details (with pictures) about some of the world’s smallest works of art. Sit back and enjoy.

Giving beautifully decorated eggs as a tradition didn’t start with Faberge. This dates back to the 1st century and Mary Magdalene when she gave an egg to the Roman emperor “as a symbol of a truth she could not fully explain." (1) Christianity came to Russia in the 10th century and the eggs followed after. Back then, the most magnificent eggs were made of ivory, stone, gold,  silver, and porcelain.

The First One

Tsar Alexander III gifted his wife Maria Feodorovna the first imperial Faberge egg during Easter of 1885. (2) This is a tradition that would last thirty-three years and see fifty-two eggs commissioned. Some historians believe this is the “last series of commissioned objets d’art.” (3) You might be wondering why there are more eggs than years and that is because Alexander III’s son Nicolas II continued the tradition by gifting his wife and mother eggs during Easter. 

Award-winning master goldsmith Peter Carl Faberge, who had inherited the House of Faberge from his father, was given the freedom to create the mini art pieces and continued to top himself year after year. This first egg is said to be modeled after an 18th-century royal Saxon egg he saw in a museum. His version was made of white enamel and contained a golden yolk inside which opened to reveal a small golden hen that held a ruby pendant, a detail that the Tsar asked for, one of the very few requests he placed on Faberge.  See the egg here.

The Highlights

I’m not going to talk about all the eggs because, well, that’s a lot, but here’s a list of my top 5 pieces. You can check out more here and here.

The Winter Egg (1913)

Given to the dowager empress Maria Feodorovna in 1913 by her son Tsar Nicholas II, this piece is carved of a very thin rock crystal and using platinum and diamonds to mimic frost, the egg sits on a rock crystal block of melting ice. The surprise is a platinum basket full of anemones and flowers made of gold and demantoid garnets and studded with 1,378 diamonds. In 2002 the egg was sold for $9.6 million to a private collector. See it here.

The Bay Tree Egg (1911)

I find myself drawn to the eggs with flowers, plants, and birds…this one is all of those. The turn of a gold key raises a few layers at the top of the tree and a little bird appears, flaps its wings, performs, and then ascends back inside. Sounds magical. Sayan nephrite was used because of its spinach-like color, a shade of green that invoked hope, youth, and spring. See it here.

The Lily of the Valley Egg (1898)

This art nouveau-inspired egg was gifted to Empress Alexandra, a lover of that style, and showcases mini portraits of her family when you turn the pearl-mounted gold knob. Johannes Zehngraf painted them on ivory and they were framed in diamonds. The shell is made from rose-colored pink enamel sitting on cabriole legs of gold leaves and diamond dewdrops. The flowers are made of gold with rubies, pearls, and diamonds. See it here.

The Mosaic Egg (1914)

This egg is probably the most photographed egg and is considered one of Faberge’s greatest achievements. The egg contains a platinum framework with diamond and pearl set frames holding precious gems of every color, hundreds of carts worth, creating patterns of flowers and swirls, and even leaving empty spaces to make it look like embroidery in progress. This egg is owned by the British Royal family and housed in the Royal Collection Trust.  See it here.

The Resurrection Egg (unknown)

I find this one so interesting because as all of the eggs were Easter gifts, this is only one to reference the Easter story. There is a bit of mystery around this one. Some experts believe it might be the surprise that was hidden inside another egg (The Renaissance Egg) since this egg has no surprise. See it here.

I love history but especially jewelry history, I hope you enjoyed this one.

jodi xx

Citations:

1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1998/04/06/in-russia-the-egg-came-first/690134a6-6660-4b34-b98f-4480f2f11978/

2. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-history-faberge-egg

3. Aja Raden, Stoned: Jewelry, obsession, and how desire shapes the world. (Harper Collins 2015)