The Faberge Egg; a little Art, Music and info for the weekend.

Easter week has ended and this, I promise, is my very last ‘Egg’ blog of the season. Think I have egg-hausted the subject :-)

 

 

 

Information from; 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faberg%C3%A9_egg

A Fabergé egg is any one of the thousands of jeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé from 1885 through 1917.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The majority of these were miniature ones that were popular gifts at Eastertide. They would be worn on a neck chain either singly or in groups.

The most famous eggs produced by the House were the larger ones made for Alexander III and Nicholas II of Russia. Of the 50 made, 42 have survived. A further two eggs were planned but not delivered, the Constellation and Karelian Birch eggs for 1918.

The eggs are made of precious metals or hard stones decorated with combinations of enamel and gem stones. The term "Fabergé egg" has become a synonym of luxury and the eggs are regarded as masterpieces of the jeweller's art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The story began when Tsar Alexander III decided to give his wife the Empress Maria Fedorovna an Easter Egg in 1885, possibly to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their betrothal.

It is believed that the Tsar’s inspiration for the piece was an egg owned by the Empress’s aunt, Princess Wilhelmine Marie of Denmark, which had captivated Maria’s imagination in her childhood. Known as the Hen Egg, it is crafted from gold.

 Its opaque white enamelled ‘shell’ opens to reveal its first surprise, a matte yellow gold yolk. This in turn opens to reveal a multi-coloured gold hen, that also opens.

It contains a minute diamond replica of the Imperial Crown from which a small ruby pendant was suspended.

 

Unfortunately, these last two surprises have been lost.

Empress Maria was so delighted by this gift that Alexander appointed Fabergé a ‘goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown’.

He commissioned another egg the following year. However, after that, Peter Carl Fabergé, who headed the House, was apparently given complete freedom for future Imperial Easter Eggs, as from this date their designs become more elaborate.

According to the Fabergé family tradition, not even the Czar knew what form they would take: the only stipulation was that each one should contain a surprise.

Following the death of Alexander III on November 1st 1894, his son presented a Fabergé egg to both his wife, the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, and to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first video is the Faberge Egg and Beethoven and the second is some of the history of the egg