The Red Cross with Imperial portraits egg (or the Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg) is a jewelled and enameled Easter egg made by

Henrik Wigström Henrik Immanuel Wigström (2 October 1862 – 14 March 1923) a Finnish silver & goldsmith, was one of the most important Fabergé workmasters along with Michael Perchin. Perchin was the head workmaster from 1886 until his death in 1903, when he ...

(1862–1923) irginia Museum of Fine Arts/ref> under the supervision of 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 ...

n 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 ...

in 1915, for Nicholas II of Russia, who presented the Fabergé egg to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, in the same year.Matt & Andrej Koymasky – Fabergé Red Cross with Imperial Portraits
/ref>

Design

The Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg is made of silver, with the shell surrounded by a series of horizontal bands edged in gold. The bands each have a different guilloche pattern and are covered in white enamel. Two red crosses, made of enamel, are on either side of the egg. One includes the date "1914" and the other "1915". Inscribed on the outside of the egg are the words, "Greater Love hath no man than this, to lay down his life for his friends". Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna's monogram is displayed on the top of the shell.

Surprise

The surprise is a hinged, folding screen of five oval miniature portraits of women from the House of Romanov, each wearing the uniform of the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. The miniatures were possibly painted by Vasily Ivanovich Zuiev (active with Faberge from 1903–1918). The portraits are of the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, Nicholas II's sister, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, his eldest daughter, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, the Tsar's second daughter, and the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the Tsar's first cousin. Each portrait is painted on ivory and is situated in a mother-of-pearl and gold screen that folds so that it may fit inside the egg. The inside of the egg is velvet-lined to secure the enfolded frame. On the back of each portrait is a golden monogram of the sitter.

History

Maria Fyodorovna, Tsar Nicholas II's mother, served with the Red Cross during the 1877 Russo-Turkish war, and was later president of the Red Cross from 1894 till her death.Mieks – Fabergé Red Cross with Imperial Portraits
/ref> When the Tsar presented the ''Imperial Red Cross Egg'' to her at Eastertide 1915, she was still serving as head of the Russian branch of the International Red Cross. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, Alexandra and her older daughters, Olga and Tatiana, enrolled as trainee nurses and the Imperial palaces were converted into provisional hospitals. Following the collapse of the Romanov dynasty during the Russian Revolution, the Dowager Empress was one of the few immediate family members to escape the Red Army. In April 1919 she fled to her native home of Denmark, leaving the ''Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg'' behind. In 1930, the Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg was sold with nine other Imperial eggs by the

Antikvariat Antikvariat (russian: Антиквариат) was a Russian department of the Ministry of Trade set up by Lenin in 1921 following the Russian Revolution to handle the sale and export of art pieces acquired by the revolutionary government from Russia ...

to the Armand Hammer Galleries in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was the first of five Imperial Faberge eggs purchased by Lillian Thomas Pratt, the wife of

John Lee Pratt John Lee Pratt (October 22, 1879 – December 22, 1975) was an American industrialist born on the county line of Stafford and King George County, Virginia. He received an engineering degree from the University of Virginia, entered the ranks of ...

, in 1933. Her Fabergé collection was willed to the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, upon her death in 1947. The Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg is currently on view as part of the European Decorative Art Collection.

Gallery

References

Sources

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External links

A detailed article on the "Red Cross with Imperial portraits" egg from wintraecken.nl

"Red Cross with Imperial portraits" egg at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
{{Fabergé egg Imperial Fabergé eggs 1915 works Fabergé in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts