The Lapis Lazuli egg is a jewelled Fabergé egg, attributed to the

House of Fabergé The House of Fabergé (; Russian: Дом Фаберже) was a jewellery firm founded in 1842 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, by Gustav Faberge, using the accented name ''Fabergé''. Gustav's sons – Peter Carl and Agathon – and grandsons follo ...

in St. Petersburg,

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

. Unlike many of the other Fabergé eggs, Lapis Lazuli was a private commission and isn't considered to be one of the imperial Easter eggs,Lowes, p. 165. as it was never given to a Russian

Tsarina Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; bg, царица, tsaritsa; sr, / ; russian: царица, tsaritsa) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (mona ...

. It is currently part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection.

Design

The egg exterior primarily consists of

lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...

, a deep-blue

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...

. It is also made up of gold, enamel, pearls, diamonds, and rubies. Inside the egg is a decorative orb (a "yolk") that can be opened to reveal a miniature

imperial crown An Imperial Crown is a crown used for the coronation of emperors. Design Crowns in Europe during the Middle Ages varied in design: During the Middle Ages the crowns worn by English kings had been described as both closed (or arched) and op ...

as well as a small ruby. The egg is unmarked.Lowes, p. 153. The design is similar to the Kelch Hen, another Fabergé egg that is red and contains a similar decorative yolk with a small hen inside of it.

History

The egg was created in the late 1800s or early 1900s by the

. The Cleveland Museum of Art estimates it may have been created between 1885 and 1890. The original commissioner or owner of the egg is unknown. India Early Minshall started collecting Fabergé objects in 1937. In the following decades, Minshall acquired many more Fabergé works, including the Lapis Lazuli and

Red Cross with Triptych Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to Orange (colour), orange and opposite Violet (color), violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the ...

eggs. Following her death in 1965, Minshall's private collection was given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, who proceeded to display over 60 items from her collection in a special exhibition. Lapis Lazuli continues to be displayed at the Museum as part of the India Early Minshall Collection.

Authenticity

In two articles, the first one published in September 2021 in

The Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation sin ...

and a second one published in early 2022 in the Fabergé Research Newsletter, it is hypothesized that this egg might be a

Fauxbergé Fauxbergé (Russian: фальшберже) is a term coined to generally describe items that are faking a higher quality or status and in specific terms relates to the House of Fabergé (Russian: Дом Фаберже), which was a Russian jeweller ...

made specifically to contain the original surprises of the

Rosebud egg Rosebud may refer to: * Rose bud, the bud of a rose flower Arts * The name of Jerry Garcia's guitar from 1990 until his death in 1995. * In the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane'', the last words of Charles Foster Kane and an overall plot device. * "Ros ...

; a miniature version of the Imperial Crown of Russia and an egg-shaped ruby pendant.

Notes

References

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External links

Cleveland Museum of Art

{{Fabergé egg Fabergé eggs Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art