Peter Carl Fabergé became the crown jeweler to the imperial court of Russia in 1885 after he produced the very first Easter egg for Tsar Alexander III to give to his wife, Empress Marie Feodorovna. Fabergé created his celebrated Easter eggs, symbols of rebirth and renewal, as gifts for the Russian imperial family every year until he had to leave the country in 1919 after the Russian Revolution. Made of gold and lapis lazuli from the Ural Mountains, this egg opens to reveal a compartment enameled to resemble an egg yolk, which contains yet another delightful surprise of an imperial crown holding a tiny ruby or pink sapphire on a chain.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Unmarked

Peter Carl Fabergé

Supplied most of the gifts exchanged by relatives of the imperial family in Russia, Denmark, Germany, and England for christenings, name days, birthdays, Christmas, and Easter.

House of Fabergé

Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920) took over the House of Faberge in 1870 from his father Carl Gustav Faberge who had founded the firm in 1842. Until 1881, the firm manufactured primarily jewelry for Saint Petersburg's aristocrats and wealthy elite. In 1885 the firm was awarded the coveted imperial warrant as goldsmith to the tsar and began to produce elaborate presentation Easter eggs as a gift for the tsarina from her husband every year. They also produced luxurious accessories, jewelry, and hardstone sculptures. At one point, Faberge employed over 300 workers including 22 workmasters who oversaw the production of the firm's jewelry and precious objects. A branch of the firm opened in Moscow in 1887, specializing in neo-Russian and pan-Slavic motifs in jewelry, silver, and enamel. Other branches followed in Kiev, London, and Odessa as well as new premises in Saint Petersburg. At the onset of the Russian Revolution, Peter Carl Faberge fled the country to Paris then Switzerland, where he died in 1920. His firm was nationalized by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Provenance

?-1966

India Early Minshall [1885–1965], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1966-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Hawley, Henry H. Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 72-73, cat. 32. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 171 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 227 archive.org

Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 114, cat. 98. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, and Jeannine J. Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 175, cat. 51. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org

Solon, Chad. "The Lapis Lazuli Egg in the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Burlington Magazine. 163, no.1422 (September 2021): 828-831 reproduced p.829; mentioned p.828-831

Exhibition history

The India Early Minshall Collection: Faberge and his Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 15, 1967-January 21, 1968).

Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).

Fabergé in America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (February 12-May 5, 1996); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (organizer) (May 25-July 28, 1996); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (August 24-November 2, 1996); New Orleans Museum of Art (December 7, 1996-February 8, 1997); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-May 11, 1997).

Fabergé's Menagerie: The Animal Creations of the Fabergé Workshop. Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (February 8-May 2, 2004).

Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2008-January 18, 2009).

Fabergé: Designing Luxury, from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (organizer) (October 14, 2012-January 13, 2013).