Fabergé Friday

After last week's relief over the fact that these Fabergé Fridays hadn't come to an end, but that there were actually more of these lovely creations, I will try to stay away from chocking you all for a while. It would be horrible to lose readers because of heart attacks I inflicted on you myself! If that's the way you want to go, please go watch a scary movie or something instead...

Well, well. Enough about that! Now to this week's Fabergé egg, which is the second one made for the Kelch family, called the "Twelve Panels Egg", from 1899!

Both the upper and lower part of this egg is divided into six white enameled sections each. The dividing bands of matt-finished gold is overlaid with pink enamel roses with gold stems and translucent green leaves. The two halves of the egg is divided by a row of rose-cut diamonds, at intervals set with rosettes of additional diamonds. 

Both ends of the egg is decorated with concentric circles of diamonds, gold and green enameled leaf motives, and pink enamel. At the center of the top end sits a medallion bearing the initials "B.T.K" under a portrait diamond. The other end holds a similar, but smaller medallion, showing the year "1899".

The white enamel panels are inlaid with blue motives, which gives the egg the impression of being made of porcelain. The surprise inside the egg has been lost.

In 1933 King George V of England became the owner of the "Twelve Panels Egg", and gave it as a Christmas gift to Queen Mary. In 1953 Queen Elizabeth II inherited the egg, which still remain in the Royal Collection.