Fabergé egg
A Fabergé egg is a jewelled egg first created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 eggs were created during the Czarist era, of which 61 are known to have survived. Virtually all of the original first-edition eggs were manufactured under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé, between 1885 and 1917. The most famous of the firm's creations are the 50 delivered Imperial Easter eggs, of which 44 are known to be in complete or partial physical existence, leaving the fate of those remaining unknown. The eggs are very highly sought-after collectors items. For example, the Fabergé Winter Egg was sold for US $30.2 million at auction in 2025.
The eggs were commissioned for the Russian tsar Aleksandr III and tsar Nikolai II as Easter gifts for Alexander's wife and Nicholas's mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, and Nicholas's wife Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna. Fabergé eggs are worth large sums of money and have become symbols of opulence.
Two more Fabergé Easter Imperial eggs were designed but were not delivered. One egg, known as the Karelian Birch Egg, has sketches but is not confirmed to have actually been made, and the other, the Blue Tsesarevich Constellation Egg, was only partially completed, due to the Russian Revolution of 1917.
More recently, Theo Fabergé, grandson of Peter Carl Fabergé, has created a series of eggs as part of the St. Petersburg Collection.
History
The House of Fabergé was founded by Gustav Fabergé in 1842 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Fabergé egg was a later addition to the product line by his son, Peter Carl Fabergé.Prior to 1885, Emperor Alexander III gave his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna jeweled Easter eggs. For Easter in 1883, before his coronation, Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna were given eggs, one of which contained a silver dagger and two skulls. The egg came with messages, including "Christ is risen" and "You may crush us—but we Nihilists shall rise again!"
Before Easter 1885, Alexander III's brother Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich suggested that Peter Carl Fabergé create a jeweled egg. This type of egg is believed to have been inspired by an ivory hen egg made for the Danish Royal Collection in the 18th century. Known as the Hen Egg, it has a 2.5-inch outer enamel shell and a golden band around the middle. The egg opens to reveal a golden "yolk" within, which in turn opens to expose a golden hen sitting on golden straw. Inside the hen lies a miniature diamond replica of the imperial crown and a ruby pendant, though these two elements have been lost. It was given to the tsarina on 1 May 1885. The egg cost 4,151 rubles. Six weeks later, the emperor made Fabergé the supplier to the imperial court, following which, the egg designs became more elaborate. Once Fabergé had approved an initial design, the work was carried out by a team of craftsmen, among them Michael Perkhin, Henrik Wigström, and Erik August Kollin.
After Alexander III's death on 1 November 1894, his son, Nicholas II, presented a Fabergé egg to both his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, and his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Records have shown that of the 50 Imperial Easter eggs, 20 were given to the former and 30 to the latter. Eggs were made each year except 1904 and 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War.
The imperial eggs enjoyed great fame. Fabergé was commissioned to make similar eggs for a few private clients, including the Duchess of Marlborough, the Rothschild family, and the Yusupovs. He was also commissioned to make twelve eggs for the industrialist Alexander Kelch, though only seven appear to have been completed. Another notable patron was the oil baron Emanuel Nobel, nephew of Alfred Nobel. In 1913, he commissioned an 'Ice Egg' from Fabergé.
Following the revolution and the nationalization of the Fabergé workshop in Saint Petersburg by the Bolsheviks in 1918, the Fabergé family left Russia. Their trademark has since been sold several times, and different companies have retailed egg-related merchandise using the Fabergé name. From 1998 to 2009, the Victor Mayer jewelry company produced limited-edition Fabergé eggs authorized under Unilever's license. The trademark is now owned by Fabergé Limited, which makes egg-themed jewelry.
In 2023, Fabergé debuted Journey in Jewels on Seven Seas Grandeur, a luxury cruise ship from Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The egg will remain on the ship, making it the first-ever Fabergé to live at sea.
List of eggs
List of Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs
Below is a chronology of the 52 eggs made for the imperial family. The dating of the eggs has evolved. An earlier chronology dated the Blue Serpent Clock Egg to 1887 and identified the 1895 egg as the Twelve Monograms Egg. The discovery of the previously lost Third Imperial Easter Egg confirms the chronology below.| Date | Egg | Image | Description | Owner |
| 1885 | First Hen | Also known as the Jewelled Hen Egg, it was the first in a series of 54 jewelled eggs made for the Russian imperial family under Fabergé's supervision. It was delivered to Alexander III in 1885. The Tsarina and the Tsar enjoyed the egg so much that Alexander III ordered a new one from Fabergé for his wife every Easter thereafter. | Viktor Vekselberg | |
| 1886 | Hen with Sapphire Pendant | Also known as the Egg with Hen in Basket, it was made in 1886 for Alexander III, who presented it to his wife, the Empress Maria Feodorovna. This 1902 photograph shows Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs belonging to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. It is possible that Hen with Sapphire Pendant is among the Fabergé eggs in this picture. | Lost | |
| 1887 | Third Imperial | A jewelled and ridged yellow–gold egg with Vacheron Constantin watch stands on its original tripod pedestal, which has chased lion paw feet and is encircled by coloured gold garlands suspended from cabochon blue sapphires topped with rose diamond set bows. After being discovered at an American flea market in 2014, it was purchased by London-based jeweller Wartski on behalf of an unidentified private collector. | Private collection | |
| 1888 | Cherub with Chariot | Also known as the Angel with Egg in Chariot, it was crafted and delivered in 1888 to Alexander III. This is one of the lost Imperial eggs. Few details are known about it. The second image is computer-generated, based on available descriptions of the egg. | Lost | |
| 1889 | Nécessaire | Crafted and delivered to Alexander III, who presented it to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, on Easter 1889. Sold in 1952 | Private collection, details unknown | |
| 1890 | Danish Palaces | Alexander III presented it to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, on Easter 1890. | Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, until 2021 | |
| 1891 | Memory of Azov | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1892 | Diamond Trellis | The surprise, an elephant automaton thought to have been lost for many years, was identified in 2015 as being in the collection of the British Royal Collection Trust. | Dorothy and Artie McFerrin collection, US | |
| 1893 | Caucasus | Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation, displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City | ||
| 1894 | Renaissance | One theory is that the surprise is another Fabergé egg, the Resurrection, which perfectly fits the curvature of the Renaissance egg's shell and has a similar decoration in enamel on the base. | Viktor Vekselberg | |
| 1895 | Rosebud | Viktor Vekselberg | ||
| 1895 | Blue Serpent Clock | Before March 2014, it was mistaken for the Third Imperial egg. | Albert II of Monaco collection, Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| 1896 | Rock Crystal | Also known as the Revolving Miniatures Egg | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | |
| 1896 | Twelve Monograms | Also known as the Alexander III Portraits egg. Surprise is missing. | Hillwood Museum, Washington, D.C., US | |
| 1897 | Imperial Coronation | Viktor Vekselberg | ||
| 1897 | Mauve | Only the egg's surprise has been found. | Lost Viktor Vekselberg | |
| 1898 | Lilies of the Valley | Made under the supervision of Fabergé in 1898 by Fabergé ateliers. The supervising goldsmith was Michael Perchin. The egg is one of two in the Art Nouveau style. It was presented on 5 April to Tsar Nicholas II and given to his wife, Alexandra Fyodorovna. | Viktor Vekselberg | |
| 1898 | Pelican | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | ||
| 1899 | Bouquet of Lilies Clock | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1899 | Pansy | Also known as the Spinach Jade Egg, made by Fabergé in 1899 for Tsar Nicholas II and given to Empress Maria Feodoronova as a gift. The egg has a mechanism that when pressed will allow the heart inside to open up as a pendant containing pictures of family members. Made of nephrite, silver-gilt, diamonds, white, red, green, and opaque violet enamel. Heart surprise made of varicolored gold, diamonds, pearls, enamel, and mother-of-pearl. | Matilda Gray Stream, US | |
| 1900 | Trans-Siberian Railway | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1900 | Cockerel | Viktor Vekselberg | ||
| 1901 | Basket of Flowers | Royal Collection, London, United Kingdom | ||
| 1901 | Gatchina Palace | Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, US | ||
| 1902 | Clover Leaf | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1902 | Empire Nephrite | Probably a Fauxbergé | Private collection, New York City | |
| 1903 | Peter the Great | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | ||
| 1903 | Royal Danish | Lost | ||
| 1906 | Moscow Kremlin | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1906 | Swan | Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Switzerland | ||
| 1907 | Rose Trellis | Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, US | ||
| 1907 | Cradle with Garlands | Also known as the "Love Trophies" egg | Private collection, Robert M. Lee, US | |
| 1908 | Alexander Palace | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1908 | Peacock | The Peacock egg is a jewel and rock crystal Easter egg made by Dorofeiev under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1908. It was made for Nicholas II of Russia, who presented the egg to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, in 1908. The transparent egg is composed of rock crystal and gilt silver wire and is quite simple in style. The genius of the egg lay in its surprise: the egg is held together by a clasp at the top, and when opened, falls into two halves, each with a rococo-style mount. | Edouard and Maurice Sandoz Foundation, Switzerland | |
| 1909 | Standart Yacht | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1909 | Alexander III Commemorative | Lost | ||
| 1910 | Colonnade | Royal Collection, London, UK | ||
| 1910 | Alexander III Equestrian | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1911 | Fifteenth Anniversary | Viktor Vekselberg | ||
| 1911 | Bay Tree | Also known as the Orange Tree egg. | Viktor Vekselberg | |
| 1912 | Tsarevich | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | ||
| 1912 | Napoleonic | Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation. Displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City | ||
| 1913 | Romanov Tercentenary | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1913 | Winter | Designed by Alma Pihl, the only female and one of the best-known Fabergé workmasters, as a gift to Maria Feodorovna by her son Nicholas II. The exterior of the egg resembles frost and ice crystals formed on clear glass. It is studded with 1,660 diamonds and is made from quartz, platinum, and orthoclase. The surprise is a miniature flower basket studded with 1,378 diamonds and is made from platinum and gold, while the flowers are made of white quartz and the leaves of demantoid. The flowers lie in gold moss. The egg is 102 millimeters high. | It was reported that the buyer was Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar. | |
| 1914 | Mosaic | Royal Collection, London, UK | ||
| 1914 | Catherine the Great | Also known as the "Grisaille". The egg was made by Henrik Wigström, "Fabergé's last head workmaster". It was given to Maria Feodorovna by her son Nicholas II. Its surprise was "a mechanical sedan chair, carried by two blackamoors, with Catherine the Great seated inside". | Hillwood Museum, Washington, D.C., US | |
| 1915 | Red Cross with Triptych | Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, US | ||
| 1915 | Red Cross with Imperial Portraits | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, US | ||
| 1916 | Steel Military | Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, Russia | ||
| 1916 | Order of St. George | Made during World War I, the Order of St. George egg commemorates the Order of St. George that was awarded to Emperor Nicholas and his son, the Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaievich. The Order of St. George Egg and its counterpart, the Steel Military Egg, were of modest design, in keeping with the austerity of World War I, and Fabergé billed 13,347 rubles for the two. The Order of St. George egg left Bolshevik Russia with its original recipient, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. | Viktor Vekselberg | |
| 1917 | Karelian Birch | Because of the 1917 February Revolution and subsequent events, this egg was never finished or presented to Nicholas's mother, Maria Feodorovna. | Lost | |
| 1917 | Constellation | Because of the 1917 February Revolution and subsequent events, this egg was never finished or presented to Nicholas's wife, Alexandra Feodorovna. | Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Moscow, Russia |