Friday, March 09, 2012

Fabergé Friday

We have now come as far as number twenty four in our count down of Fabergé's Imperial Easter Eggs! This one, from 1901, is called the "Gatchina Palace Egg"!


This gold egg is covered in opalescent white enamel over a guilloche ground. Under the enamel delicate bows and flowers are painted in green and gold, pink and red. The egg is then divided into twelve panels by lines of pearls. At either end sits portrait diamonds, under which a monogram and the year of creation probably were placed at first. These have now been removed though. 


When opened up the egg reveals the surprise - a miniature replica of the Gatchina Palace, the Dowager Empress' principal residence outside St. Petersburg. The miniature is fixed inside the egg, and can not be removed from it. 


The replica was made by Faberge's work-master, Mikhail Perkhin, and is so detailed you can see details such as cannons, a flag, a statue of Tsar Paul I (1754-1801), parterres and trees.


The palace at Gatchina started to be built in 1766, when Catherine II (Catherine the Great) decided she wanted to build a palace for her lover, Grigori Orlov, who helped her to the throne after a coup in which Catherine's husband, Peter III, was killed. After Orlov died Catherine bought the palace from his heirs and gave it to her son, Paul Petrovich. 

In 1920 the "Gatchina Palace Egg" was in the possession of former Gatchina Palace employee Alexander Polotsov. How he acquired the egg is not known, but Polotsov later started an antique shop in Paris and sold the egg in 1930. Now it can be seen at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, where it has been on permanent display since 1952.



6 comments:

  1. I find it so amazing what's inside this egg when you open it up, amazing stuff Miss Meadows, thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the inside, I would keep it open all the time, it's a little world inside! Beautiful. Have a great weekend! xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a gorgeous egg!!! My aunt had just one Faberge egg and I was always in awe of it. I was never allowed to touch it, though!

    Mabel
    Mabel Time

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just letting you know that you've been given a Liebster Blog Award by me! Check it out on my blog at vibrantvintageblog.blogspot.com :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, look at the tiny palace. And the little bows. A true masterpiece, just like all the others. Thank you so much for introducing them all!

    Btw, I awarded you over on my blog :).

    ReplyDelete