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When you think of the House of Fabergé, what comes to mind are the imperial eggs given as Easter gifts from the last two tzars to their wives and others. As we mentioned early on in this Russian trip blog, Moscow and SP are "rivalry" cities. One thorn in the crown of SP is they have one less egg than Moscow.
By various accounts, there were 52 imperial eggs produced and 46 accounted for. The Kremlin Armory in Moscow has the largest collection of ten. Nine are in this museum. Some of them came to the museum after American Malcolm Forbes died and Viktor Vekselberg purchased them through his estate. Surprisingly, the third largest group are five eggs located at the Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (USA).
In this case, the surprise came in five parts. The outer enameled egg shell, inside that the gold yolk, and inside that the gold hen with ruby eyes. Now lost, inside of that were a gold and diamond replica of the imperial crown and a tiny ruby pendant on a necklace.
My favorite is the Lilies of the Valley egg (1898). For the surprise, you twist a gold-mounted pearl button and pictures of the Tzar and his two eldest daughters, Olga and Tatiana, elevate from the egg.
Many of the eggs have pictures of family members or favorite locations. This is the Fifteenth Anniversary egg from Nicholas II to wife Alexandra during Easter 1911.
To learn more about Fabergé eggs, their locations, surprises, others that commissioned them, etc., go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabergé_egg#List_of_Fabergé_imperial_Easter_eggs.
I did not imagine, however, the variety of other products the House of Fabergé created. Located in this collection are over 4,000 items. Here's a sampling. Ceramics / porcelain.
Presentation items and awards.
So Many clocks. This is the coral collection.
By various accounts, there were 52 imperial eggs produced and 46 accounted for. The Kremlin Armory in Moscow has the largest collection of ten. Nine are in this museum. Some of them came to the museum after American Malcolm Forbes died and Viktor Vekselberg purchased them through his estate. Surprisingly, the third largest group are five eggs located at the Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (USA).
Hard to choose which eggs to present here. Even in its simplicity, the very first egg, The Hen, is beautiful. It was ordered by Tzar Alexander III as an Easter (1885) gift for his wife Maria Feodorovna. The tzarina was so taken by the gift that the tzar placed a standing order. His only demand was that each be unique and each have a surprise.
My favorite is the Lilies of the Valley egg (1898). For the surprise, you twist a gold-mounted pearl button and pictures of the Tzar and his two eldest daughters, Olga and Tatiana, elevate from the egg.
Bay Tree or Orange Tree egg. It was given from Nicholas II to his mom the Dowager Empress Maria on Easter 1911.
Cuckoo Clock or Cockrell egg (1900). It is also a music box.
I did not imagine, however, the variety of other products the House of Fabergé created. Located in this collection are over 4,000 items. Here's a sampling. Ceramics / porcelain.
Cloisonne enamel.
Silver and gold pieces.
Picture frames (with Tzar Nicholas II here), cigarette cases, compacts, men's (cufflinks) and women's jewelry, dressing sets, buckles, purses, opera glasses, etc., etc.
And last but not least, miniatures. Fabergé made a number of miniatures including chairs, tables, piano, and sedan chair (gold, middle right).
This was at most five inches tall and just precious!
This museum: https://fabergemuseum.ru/en/
The House of Fabergé history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Fabergé
The House of Fabergé history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Fabergé
An aside: I think the tech term "Easter egg" must have come from these Fabergé eggs. It means an unexpected or undocumented bit of computer software code used to make a surprise or joke. Another example was Sunday June 7, 2020 newspaper comics included lots of "Easter eggs" related to the Black Lives Matters issue.
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