Fabergé Friday

Today's Fabergé object - an Imperial Presentation cigarette case! Made by workmaster August Hollming, sometime between 1899-1908.

The case is enameled translucent red over a sunburst engine-turned ground. The ends are wrapped with chased gold laurel bands, and the thumb-piece is set with rose-cut diamonds. In the middle of the lid sits an Imperial eagle of rose-cut diamonds. The length of the case is 3 1/2'' (9 cm), and according to the ledgers of the Imperial cabinet it accompanied Tsar Nicholas II on three different voyages...

Source

Fabergé Friday

When the Easter of 1917 arrived, the February Revolution had already taken place, and Tsar Nicholas II had abdicated. But as usual Fabergé had still prepared two Easter eggs - one for the Dowager Empress, and one for Tsarina Alexandra - which were to be the last two Imperial Easter Eggs ever to be made...The next to last - number fifty-five - is called the "Birch Egg", or the "Karelian Birch Egg".

WWI had not been good to the Russian fortune, and the revolutionary mood of the people made it very impolitic for the royals to spend money on lavish things. This egg then, was created from Karelian birch panels set in a gold frame, and so makes it the only Imperial Easter Egg to be made out of organic material. The egg was sent to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovitch, who was then supposed to give it to the Dowager Empress, but he fled from his palace before it was delivered. The gift remained, abandoned, in the palace, before it was looted during the October Revolution later that year.

The surprise is long gone. But what was once hidden inside the seemingly simple egg, was a very expensive little treasure; a mechanical elephant decorated with eight large diamonds, 61 small diamonds, and a diamond-studded key engraved "MF" (Maria Feodorovna). Since it was also stolen during the Revolution, it is probably still out there somewhere. The problem is that the owner probably has no idea of what a treasure that pretty little elephant really is...

In 2001 the "Birch Egg" publicly reappeared when a private collector from the UK - a descendant of Russian emigrants - sold it to Alexander Ivanov, who owns a Fabergé Museum in Baden Baden. When Ivanov bought the egg he also got the case that contained it, the wind-up key for the surprise, Fabergé's original invoice to Nicholas II, and a letter from Fabergé to Alexander Kerensky, complaining about not being paid and asking that the egg be delivered. 

On April 25, 1917, Fabergé had sent the Tsar the invoice for the egg. The difference in this invoice, from previous years, was that he had addressed it not to Nicholas II as "Tsar of all the Russias", but simply as "Mr. Romanov, Nikolai Aleksandrovich".

Fabergé Friday

We have now reached Imperial Easter Egg number forty-seven - the "Romanov Tercentenary Egg", from 1913!

In 1913 the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty was celebrated, and this egg was made to commemorate the event. The gold egg is faced with white transparent enamel on a guilloche background. This surface is almost covered in over 1100 diamonds and gold state symbols though. There are double-headed eagles, royal crowns, and wreathes. But there are also eighteen miniatures, framed with diamonds, of the Tsars of the house of Romanov. These are painted in watercolor on ivory by Vassily I. Zuev. At the top of the egg sits a large diamond with the years "1613" and "1913" engraved under it, and at the bottom sits a triangular diamond covering the monogram "A.F.". The portraits are as follows:

Mikhail Feodorovich 1613-1645

Alexei Mikhailovich 1645-1676

Feodor Alexeevich 1676-1682

Ivan V 1682-1696

Sofia Alexeevna 1682-1689

Peter The Great, Tsar 1682-1721,
 Emperor of Russia 1721-1725

Catharine I 1725-1727

Peter II 1727-1730

Anna Ivanova 1730-1741

Elizaveta Petrovna 1741-1761

Peter III 1761-1762

Catherine the Great 1762-1796

Paul I 1796-1802

Alexander I 1801-1825

Nicholas I 1825-1855

Alexander II 1855-1881

Alexander III 1881-1894

Nicholas II 1894-1917

The egg is held by a threefold heraldic eagle, symbolizing the power and glory of the Romanov Dynasty. The eagles are holding the Imperial scepter, orb and the Romanov sword in their talons. The purpurine base on which they stand represents the Russian Imperial shield. 

The inside of the egg is decorated with white opalescent enamel on a ground carved with guilloche ornaments. The surprise is a rotating globe, made of burnished blue steel - to represent water - and different colored gold - to represent land. The globe consists of two northern hemispheres. One half shows Russia's territory at the time when the first Romanov Tsar - Mikhail Feodorovich - entered the throne in 1613. And the other shows the territory of the Russian Empire in 1913, when Nicholas II ruled.

The "Romanov Tercentenary Egg" is one of ten Imperial Easter Eggs in the collection at the Kremlin Armory.

Fabergé Friday

Imperial Easter Egg number forty-three is: The "Fifteenth Anniversary Egg", from 1911!

This opalescent and opaque white enamel egg is like a little lesson in Russian history. It was created to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of Tsar Nicholas II's accession to the throne, and contains miniatures of nine major political events during 1911. These miniatures, painted by court miniaturist Vassily Zuiev, are put in different spaces, cut off from each other by a grid of green enamel garlands, bound together by diamond crosses.

Among the political miniatures, there are also portraits of the Tsar, the Tsarina, their five children, and highlights from important occasions in their lives together. 

The year of Nicholas' and Alexandra's wedding, 1894, and the year of the fifteenth anniversary, 1911, are set underneath the Tsaritsa's and Tsar's portraits. At the top of the egg the the crowned monogram of Alexandra sits beneath a table diamond, and at the bottom of the egg a rose-cut diamond, signed Fabergé, is set.

The Imperial children: Olga, Tatiana, Alexei, Marie and Anastasia.

The nine political events portrayed are:

The Tsar Alexander III Russian Imperial Historical Museum in St. Petersburg.

Procession to the Uspenski Cathedral.

Opening of the Alexander III Bridge in Paris.

Huis ten Bosch, the Hague.

Reception for the members of the first State Duma at the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg.

Unveiling of the monument commemorating the Bicentenary of the Battle of Poltava.

Unveiling of the statue of Peter the Great at Riga.

Moment of Coronation.

Removal of the remains of St. Seraphim of Sarovski.

If there was a surprise attached to the "Fifteenth Anniversary Egg", it is now gone. The egg was dearly treasured by Alexandra, who kept it in the Maple Room at the Alexander Palace. After being sold a few times, it ended up in the Forbes Magazine Collection, where it became Malcolm Forbes' favorite egg. In 2004 it was sold to the Vekselberg Foundation.

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.

Fabergé Friday

Imperial Easter Egg number thirty seven: The "Alexander Palace Egg", from 1809!

This egg is carved from Siberian nephrite. The surface has then been divided by five diamond studded lines, which are connected to each other by gold garlands inlaid with rose and ruby flowers. Between the vertical lines are five oval miniature portraits of Tsar Nicholas II's children, framed by rose-cut diamonds. Over each of them is also a diamond-set monogram. On the inside of the egg are written the names and birth dates (based on the Old Style calendar) on the back of each child's portrait: "Olga" - November 3, 1859, "Tatiana" - May 29, 1897, "Maria" - June 14, 1899, "Anastasia" - June 5, 1901, "Alexei" - July 30, 1904. On top and bottom of the egg are set triangular diamonds, bearing the initials "A.F." (Alexandra Feodorovna). The original stand has been lost, and the present one was made at the Moscow experimental jewelry factory in 1989.

When opened up, the egg reveals the surprise - a tiny replica of the Imperial family's favorite residence at Tsarskoye Selo, the Alexander Palace!

As usual when it comes to Fabergé's work, the miniature is extremely detailed. It is made out of tinted gold, with a green enamel roof and rock crystal windows. 

The replica stands on a round "table" with five narrow legs. The inscription "The Palace at Sarskoye Selo" is engraved on the base.

The Alexander Palace was built in 1769, by the Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi., for Catherine the Great's favorite grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, who would become Tsar Alexander I. Later the palace became the principal residence of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

Ok. Just had to show you this picture too! This is Alexander I's bedroom in the palace. Sweet dreams...

The "Alexander Palace Egg" never left Russia, and is one of ten Imperial Easter Eggs which are held at the Kremlin Armory in moscow.