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Faberge Egg: Hunt for 20 Million Imperial Easter Egg Finally Over

by Fashionlady

faberge-egg-collection

If you’re aware about the Fabergé egg then you must know it is the greatest Easter egg hunt in the world this year. The search is for a £20 million egg. For those who don’t know about this bejeweled egg I suggest you to go through my post to unveil the gem-studded history. Do have a read!

Not one but a whopping number of 50 lavish Easter eggs were created by Fabergé for the Russian Imperial family, between 1885 and 1916, against an incredible archival backdrop, is considered as the craftsmanship’s greatest and most enduring achievement.

And the Imperial Easter eggs are undoubtedly the most celebrated and awe-inspiring of all Fabergé works of art, inevitably obligated to the Fabergé name and legend. Historians also believe that these masterpieces are also considered as some of the last great commissions of objet d’art (work of art in French).

A sneak peek into the history of Fabergé egg from Wiki

A Fabergé egg is one of a limited number of jeweled eggs created by Peter Carl Fabergé and his company from 1885 to 1917. The most famous of the eggs are the ones made for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers, often called the ‘Imperial’ Fabergé eggs. The House of Fabergé made about 50 eggs and 43 have survived. Another two were planned for Easter 1918, but because of the Russian Revolution were not delivered. After the Revolution, the Fabergé family left Russia (see House of Fabergé). The Fabergé trademark has been sold several times since and several companies have retailed egg-related merchandise using the Fabergé name. The trademark is now owned by Fabergé Limited, which makes egg-themed jewellery.

Alexander III Equestrian Egg

The story began in 1885, when Tsar Alexander III decided to give a jewelled Easter egg to his wife the Empress Marie Fedorovna, so as to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their betrothal and a mark of Easter celebration as well.

Faberge-Alexander-III-Equestrian-Egg

Also known as The Alexander III Equestrian Egg, the jewelled Easter egg was then created under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1910, for the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II.

The egg is carved out of rock-quartz crystal, engraved with two tied laurel leaf sprays, the upper half cloaked with platinum trelliswork and a tasseled fringe, with two consoles shaped as double-headed eagles set with rose-cut diamonds.

A large diamond engraved with the year “1910” surmounts the egg, set in band of small roses, with a rosette border of platinum acanthus leaves. The two platinum double-headed eagles on the sides of the egg have diamond crowns. The surface of the egg between the eagles is engraved with branching patterns, adjoined at the bottom.

The lower part of the egg serves as a platform for a gold model of a statue of Tsar Alexander III on horseback, standing on a nephrite base embellished with two rose-cut diamond bands, engraved with Fabergés signature, supported by cast platinum cherubs coiled into position on a base of crystal. It is currently held in the Kremlin Armoury Museum in Moscow.

Other Fabergé egss

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faberge-egg

The third of the 50 so-called ‘Imperial Eggs’ was one of the biggest treasure hunts for the Court Jewellers Wartski for half a century. It all started when a stranger walked into the Wartski antique shop just off Bond Street and spent £1,250 on a Fabergé egg. The Tsar Imperial egg, the Nécessaire Egg, was never seen again, meaning that one of the most valuable jewels from Imperial Russia could still be hidden somewhere in Britain.

faberge-egg-20-million

But Kieran McCarthy, Wartski’s Fabergé specialist was confident that the egg still existed, “It’s out there. I just know it is,” he used to say.

Only a few months ago 42 out of 50 were located. This year a scrap dealer from the Midwest of America walked into Wartski holding photographs of a golden egg. Mr. McCarthy recognized it immediately. The owner had bought it for $13,000, which is roughly the scrap metal value. He had then tried selling it several times. But when he found out about McCarthy on the Internet, the search by the Wartski jewelry store ended.

faberge-egg-20-million

The Third Imperial Easter Egg, contains a Vacheron Constantin watch, as the”surprise” inside. A brilliant cut diamond serves as the button to open up the egg, which sits on a gold stand with cabochon blue sapphires and rose diamonds. It was brought to Britain and sold for around £20 million. It will be on show at Wartski for four days next week — the first time it has appeared in public for 112 years.

However the search is still on for two more Imperial eggs!

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