Fabergé Friday

And so we have reached Imperial Easter Egg number twenty one - the "Trans-Siberian Railway Egg", from the year 1900!

This egg is made of gold, covered in translucent green enamel. The whole egg is then surrounded with a silver map, on which the route of the Trans-Siberian railway, which ran from St. Petersburg to Vladivostock, has been engraved. It is decorated with blue and orange enamel, and bears the inscription "The route of the Grand Siberian Railway in the year 1900". Each station is marked by a precious stone.

The egg sits on an onyx base, on which stands three Romanov Griffins cast in gold-plated silver, each brandishing a sword and a shield. The hinged top of the egg is covered in green enamel, and is decorated with inlaid acanthus leaves. Surmounting everything is a three-headed eagle in gold, bearing the Imperial Crown.

The lid opens up to reveal the surprise, hidden i three sections - a one foot long, working, miniature of the Trans-Siberian Express. The train is built up of a platinum and gold locomotive and tender, and of five gold coaches with windows of rock crystal. The coaches are individually named "mail", "for ladies only", "smoking" and "non-smoking", and a "restaurant" car. The last coach is labeled "chapel", just as on the real Imperial train. The headlights are diamonds, and it's rear lights rubies. When the three parts are put together the two back parts run along with the locomotive when it's clockwork is wound up with it's golden key.

In 1900 the Trans-Siberian Railway - the railway that would link European Russia with the Pacific coast - was almost finished. Tsar Nicholas II was very pleased with this accomplishment, supported by his whole country, although the building of it had cost a lot both in resources and in human lives. This egg was made to celebrate this new wondrous way of traveling. It is now held in the Kremlin Armory Museum in Moscow.