Fabergé Friday

We've reached Imperial Easter Egg number thirty-eight - "The Standart Yacht Egg", from 1909!

This transparent egg is made of hollowed-out rock crystal. Between the upper and lower half the egg is surrounded by a gold band with inlaid green enamel leaves, diamonds and the script "Standart 1909". On either side of the egg sits a crowned eagle of lapis lazuli. Under each of them hangs a pear-shaped pearl. The shaft holding up the egg consists of two lapis lazuli dolphins with intertwined tails. These, in their turn, sits on an oval base made of quartz crystal, and white enamel inlaid with laurel garlands and bands of small diamonds with laurel branches of green enamel.

 

Inside the egg a replica - reproduced to the last detail - of the royal yacht - the "Standart", sails on an oval sea made of clear rock crystal. 

When the 5,557 ton, 128 meters (420 feet) long yacht the "Standart" was launched, in 1895, she was the largest Imperial Yacht afloat. The ship was lavishly decorated with mahogany paneling and crystal chandeliers to fit the Imperial Family. It had thirty rooms - including a stable for a cow, to ensure the Imperial children always had fresh milk! 

 

Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

Nicholas II and his family spent many joyful days on the yacht, until it was placed in drylock at the start of WWI. After the fall of the Romanov Dynasty, the "Standart" was stripped of all luxury and put in naval service. She was renamed "Vosemnadtsatoe Marta", and later "Marti". During WWII "Marti" served as a minelayer, bombarding shore positions along the coast. After the war she was converted into a trainingship, renamed "Oka". This was the once so splendid yacht's last job. In 1963 she was scrapped in Tallin, Estonia.

Most jewelers during this era were mostly interested in large gems. Karl Fabergé differed from them in the way that he looked more to the whole effect one of his pieces would have. He wanted his work to have a lasting effect, so that when you looked at it, it would give you a sense of sheer enjoyment and pleasure. The "Standart Yacht Egg" is one of the few Imperial Easter Eggs that never left Russia.