Friday, February 24, 2012

Fabergé Friday

Imperial Easter Egg number twenty two is the "Cuckoo Egg", or "Cockerel Egg" from 1900!


This egg is made of dull yellow, green and red gold, and enameled opalescent white and translucent violet on a zigzag guilloche field, and set with pearls and rose-cut diamonds. The pearl-encirceled dial is enameled with translucent emerald green trefoils, and the numerals, written out with rose-cut diamonds, are set on pale greenish white opalescent enamel within opaque white enamel rings. 


The base is set with three large rose-cut diamonds, and supports the egg with three struts, enameled opalescent white.


When a button on the back of the egg is pressed the surprise - a cockerel plumed with natural feathers, cabochon ruby eyes, and gold legs - rises, crowing, on a gold platform when the circular pierced gold grill opens at the top of the egg. It's beak and wings move authentically, and when the crowing stops, the cockerel once again returns down into the egg. This happens at the stroke of every hour! On top of the grille the year 1900 is inscribed beneath a diamond.

With every year Fabergé's techniques got better and better, and some of the world's best examples of handcrafted automata are hidden inside these Imperial Easter Eggs!

The "Cuckoo Egg" can now be seen in Viktor Vekselberg's collection in Moscow. 


2 comments:

  1. YESSSSS...this is my egg..it's blue!! That's all I need to have is a blue egg...how wonderful :))))) Xxxx

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  2. Blue and gold works so well, just like Mrs Doll I'm a huge fan of blue so this is definitely one of my favourite eggs so far!

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