The Argyle Library Egg (also known as the Argyle Library Egg by Kutchinsky) is a jewelled egg composed of gold and diamonds. Commissioned by Argyle Diamonds of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Australia and completed in 1990 by Paul Kutchinsky, its design was inspired by the ornate Fabergé eggs that noted jeweller

Peter Carl Fabergé Peter Carl Fabergé, also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé (russian: Карл Гу́ставович Фаберже́, ''Karl Gustavovich Faberzhe''; 30 May 1846 – 24 September 1920), was a Russian jewellery, jeweller best known for the fam ...

created for the Russian royal family in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Craftsmanship

Standing more than two feet (60 cm) tall, the egg is fashioned from 33 lbs (15 kg) of 18 carat

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

sheets and is studded with 24,000

pink diamond Pink diamond is a type of diamond that has pink color. The source of their pink color is greatly debated in the gemological world but it is most commonly attributed to plastic deformation that these diamonds undergo during their formation. Pink ...

s. Six master craftsmen labored a combined 7000 hours over ten months to complete the creation of the egg. Reportedly, Paul Kutchinsky individually hand selected each diamond used in the design. The completed egg was valued at approximately $11.5 million.

Surprise

Paying homage to Faberge's tradition of hiding a "surprise" inside each of his eggs, the Argyle Library Egg was designed to open and reveal a rotating miniature library and portrait gallery. The egg had a complex electronic mechanism to pull back the shell and rotate the interior for display, although this mechanism reportedly experienced a few technical problems after the completed egg began a world tour in 1990. The portrait gallery, containing five enameled frames, was based upon a design that Fabergé produced for the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Exhibition and ownership

The finished egg was unveiled in April 1990 by Kutchinsky, who then exhibited the work around the world (including at a 1990 showcase of British craftsmanship at the Victorian and Albert Museum and the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

the same year) while looking for a buyer. The 1991 edition of the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' named the work as "the largest and most elaborate 'Easter Egg.'" In 1992, the egg was on display as the centerpiece of the Australian Pavilion at the 1992 Universal Exposition in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, Spain. After failing to find a buyer for the egg and with the onset of the first

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, Kutchinsky faced financial difficulties. Possession of the egg reverted to Argyle Mining, who used the egg as a showpiece to promote its diamonds. Eventually, the company sold the egg to a private collector, after which its whereabouts were unknown for many years. However, in 2013, Kutchinksy's daughter, journalist Serena Kutchinsky, reported that the egg is owned by a Japanese businessman in Tokyo, who displays the egg in his chateau's foyer.

References

External links

* * * {{Cite web , url=http://www.hancocks-london.com/content/kutchinsky , title=Kutchinsky family history , publisher=Hancocks , location=London , access-date=2014-09-01 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220194214/http://www.hancocks-london.com/content/kutchinsky , archive-date=2015-02-20 , url-status=dead Decorative arts Individual items of jewellery

Craftsmanship

Surprise

Exhibition and ownership

See also

References

External links