The Renaissance egg is a jewelled

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Ancie ...

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...

made by

Michael Perchin Michael Evlampievich Perkhin (russian: Михаи́л Евла́мпиевич Пе́рхин) (1860-1903) was an Imperial Russian jeweler. Born in Prionezhsky District, Okulovskaya in Olonets Governorate (now Republic of Karelia), he moved to ...

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 1894. The egg was made for

Alexander III of Russia Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...

, who presented it to his wife, the Empress Maria Feodorovna. It was the last

Fabergé egg A Fabergé egg (russian: link=no, яйцо Фаберже́, translit=yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtual ...

that Alexander presented to Maria.

Surprise

In Fabergé's invoice the surprise is not mentioned, since "pearls" are mentioned and they are not present in the egg itself, it has been suggested they could be connected with a now lost surprise. Another hypothesis, advanced by

Christopher Forbes Christopher "Kip" Forbes () is vice chairman of the Forbes Publishing company. He attended St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, and Princeton University. His brother is Steve Forbes, who has made multiple runs for the U.S. preside ...

, is that the surprise for the Renaissance egg is the Resurrection egg, which perfectly fits the curvature of the Renaissance egg's shell, has a similar decoration in enamel on the base as well as pearls. It was also shown at the same showcase as the Renaissance egg, during a Fabergé exhibition held in the Von Dervis mansion in St. Petersburg in March 1902, where surprises were exhibited out of the Imperial eggs. Likewise, the Resurrection egg has no inventory number, which would speak in favour of this theory.

History

Alexander III was billed 4,750 rubles for the Renaissance egg, and it was confiscated by the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...

in 1917. It was sold alongside nine other eggs for 1,500 rubles to

Armand Hammer Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898 – December 10, 1990) was an American business manager and owner, most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran from 1957 until his death. Called "Lenin's chosen capitalist" by the press, ...

. Advertised for sale by Hammer in 1937, it was sold to Henry Talbot DeVere Clifton. It had been sold in November 1949 to the

Swingline Swingline is a division of ACCO Brands Corporation that specializes in manufacturing staplers and hole punches. The company was formerly located in Long Island City, Queens, New York, United States, but the plant was moved to Nogales, Mexico, in 1 ...

magnates Jack and Belle Linsky. Attempting to give their Fabergé collection to the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the Linskys were rebuffed, as the museum stated it was not interested in "

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

decorative trivia". The egg was then sold to the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

antique dealers

A La Vieille Russie A La Vieille Russie is a New York City-based antique store specializing in European and American antique jewelry, Russian Empire, Imperial Russian works of art, 18th-century European gold snuff boxes, and ''Objet d'art, objets d’art''. Founded i ...

, where it was purchased by

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism ...

for his collection on May 15, 1965. The Forbes Collection was sold in 2004 to

Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs (Russian language, Russian: олигархи, Romanization of Russian, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the Post-Soviet states, former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Priv ...

Viktor Vekselberg Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg (russian: Виктор Феликсович Вексельберг, uk, Віктор Феліксович Вексельберг; born April 14, 1957) is a Ukrainian-born Russian–Israeli-Cyprus oligarch, billion ...

. Vekselberg purchased some nine Imperial eggs as part of the collection for almost $100 million. "The World's Most Beautiful Eggs: The Genius of Carl Faberge"
BBC FOUR

Design

The piece is based on an 18th century casket by Le Roy at the

Green Vault The Green Vault (german: Grünes Gewölbe) is a museum located in Dresden, Germany, which contains the largest treasure collection in Europe. The museum was founded in 1723 by Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony, and it features a variety of ...

, Germany.Fabergé Research Site, Renaissance egg
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References

Sources

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External links

from imperialtresuresofrussia.com
Lecture by Christopher Forbes about the former Forbes Fabergé collection (including his theory on the Renaissance egg surprise)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renaissance (Faberge egg) Imperial Fabergé eggs 1894 works Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia