The Imperial Coronation egg is a jewelled

Fabergé egg A Fabergé egg () is a jewelled egg first created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 Czarist Russia Era eggs were created, of which 61 are currently known to have survived. Virtually all of the ...

made under the supervision of the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n jeweller,

Peter Carl Fabergé Peter Carl Gustavovich Fabergé (; – 24 September 1920; also known as Charles Fabergé) was a Russian goldsmith and jeweller. He is best known for creating Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and ...

, in 1897 by Fabergé ateliers, Mikhail Perkhin and Henrik Wigstrom. The egg was made to commemorate

Tsarina Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; ; ; ) is the title of a female Autocracy, autocratic ruler (monarch) of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia, or the title of a t ...

, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. It was frequently on exhibition at The

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

(specifically the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

) in St. Petersburg, Russia, and also materialised in various museums worldwide, placed in temporary exhibits there. It is currently owned by one of the

Russian oligarchs Russian oligarchs () are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownershi ...

Viktor Vekselberg Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg (born April 14, 1957) is a Russian-Israeli businessman and oligarch. He is the founder and chairman of Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate. According to ''Forbes'', as of November 2021, his fortune is estimated at ...

Design

The egg is made from

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

with translucent lime yellow enamel on a

guilloché Guilloché (), or guilloche (), is a decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into an underlying material via engine turning, which uses a machine of the same name. Engine turning m ...

field of starbursts and is in reference to the

cloth-of-gold Cloth of gold or gold cloth (Latin: ''Tela aurea'') is a fabric woven with a gold-wrapped or spun weft—referred to as "a spirally spun gold strip". In most cases, the core yarn is silk, wrapped (''filé'') with a band or strip of high content ...

robe worn by the Tsarina at her Coronation. It is trellised with bands of greenish gold laurel leaves mounted at each intersection by a gold Imperial

double-headed eagle The double-headed eagle is an Iconology, iconographic symbol originating in the Bronze Age. The earliest predecessors of the symbol can be found in Mycenaean Greece and in the Ancient Near East, especially in Mesopotamian and Hittite Empire#icon ...

enamelled opaque black, and set with a rose diamond on its chest. This pattern was also drawn from the Coronation robe worn by the Empress. A large portrait

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

is set in the top of the egg within a cluster of ten brilliant diamonds; through the table of this stone, the

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

of the Empress can be seen. At the other more narrow end, a smaller portrait diamond is set within a cluster of rose diamonds surrounded by a flower motif made of 20 narrow gold petals. At this end of the egg, the portrait diamond covers the date 1897 inscribed on a plaque similar to that of the monogram. The egg was presented together with a glass-enclosed

jadeite Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition Na Al Si2 O6. It is hard (Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0), very tough, and dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. It is found in a wide range of colors, but is most often found in shades ...

stand for the display of the carriage at a cost of 5650 rubles.

Surprise

Fitted inside a velvet-lined compartment is a precise replica, less than long, of the 18th-century Imperial coach that carried the Tsarina Alexandra to her coronation at Moscow's Uspensky Cathedral. The red colour of the original coach was recreated using strawberry coloured translucent enamel and the blue upholstery of the interior was also reproduced in enamels. The coach is surmounted by the Imperial Crown in rose diamonds and six

s on the roof; it is fitted with engraved

rock crystal Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical fo ...

windows and

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

tyres decorated with a diamond-set trellis in gold and an Imperial eagle in diamonds at either door. The miniature is complete with moving wheels, opening doors, actual C-spring shock absorbers and a tiny folding step-stair. Missing surprises include an

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

or diamond pendant that hung inside the replica coach, a glass-enclosed jadeite stand for the display of the carriage as well as a stand made of

silver-gilt Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French language, French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling silver, sterling) which has been gilding, gilded. Most large objects made in goldsmithing tha ...

wire. The unique design of the carraige was made by the young master Georg Stein, who repeatedly visited the royal stables at

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

so that all parts of the model would accurately depict the carriage.
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History

The coronation of

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

and his spouse, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna was the catalyst for the Imperial Coronation Egg's creation, to celebrate the historical event. The coronation on May 14, 1896, was a day of jubilance and pride in the

Romanov The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...

s, celebrated by throngs of spectators. The Russian nobility and guests gathered on the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

day of Dormition, the death of Mary, inside Uspensky Cathedral for the actual coronation. The throne of the Czar, the former throne of

Michael I of Russia Michael I (; ) was Tsar of all Russia from 1613 after being elected by the Zemsky Sobor of 1613 until his death in 1645. He was elected by the Zemsky Sobor and was the first tsar of the House of Romanov, which succeeded the Rurikids, House o ...

was inset with 870 diamonds, rubies, and pearls. The throne of the Tsarina, the famous ivory throne of

Ivan the Great Ivan III Vasilyevich (; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1462 until his death in 1505. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blind father Vasily II befo ...

, also was inset with a vast collection of

jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

and rare gemstones. The gold miniature coach, which is removable from the interior of the Coronation Egg, is a replica of

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

's Gold Coach of 1793 used to transport the last Romanov rulers from ceremony to ceremony on the coronation week. Another artifact used in the coronation from the reign of Catherine was the

Imperial Crown of Russia The Imperial crown of Russia (), also known as the Great Imperial Crown of Russian Empire (), was used for the Coronation of the Russian monarch, coronation of the List of Russian rulers, monarchs of Russia from 1762 until the Russian Empire, Rus ...

diamond crown made by

Jérémie Pauzié Jérémie Pauzié (; 6 December 1716 – 30 November 1779) was a Genevan diamond jeweler, artist and memoirist, known for his work for the Russian Imperial court and the Imperial Crown of Russia, which he created with the court's jeweler Geor ...

in 1762.

Past and present ownerships

Royal origin

The Egg was first given to Tsarina Alexandra of Imperial Russia on

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

of 1897. The egg was displayed in the Empress' apartment at the

, resting in a jewelled carriage. Upon the fall of the

Dynasty, the egg was confiscated by the Provisional Government in 1917 and was listed among the treasures removed from the

Anichkov Palace The Anichkov Palace, a former imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, stands at the intersection of Nevsky Avenue and the Fontanka River. History 18th century The palace, situated on the plot formerly owned by Antonio de Vieira (1682?-1745), ...

. It was then dispatched to the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

and finally transferred to the

Sovnarkom The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Soviet republics from 1917 ...

in 1922 for sale.

Further transactions

The egg was purchased in 1927 by Emanuel Snowman for Wartski a family-owned firm of art and antique dealers in London. The egg was then sold to the collector Charles Parsons in 1934, but then reacquired by Wartski in 1945 and remained with the company until early 1979.

Late twentieth century

In March 1979, the egg was sold to

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, which was founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He repres ...

for $2.16 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

along with the Lilies of the Valley Fabergé Egg. In 2004, nine Fabergé eggs, including the Imperial Coronation Egg, were to be sold by

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

Auction House, however on February 4, 2004,

announced that more than 180 Fabergé art pieces, including the 9 rare Fabergé eggs, had been withdrawn from auction and privately sold to

. The official selling price of the Coronation Egg to Vekselberg was never publicly disclosed by

, fueling much speculation. However,

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

reported the day after the sale that "...it was a very serious offer that the Forbes family accepted." In a 2013

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

documentary, Vekselberg revealed he had spent just over $100 Million purchasing the 9 Fabergé eggs.

Representation in film

The

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film, ''

Octopussy ''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent James Bond filmography, J ...

'' (1983), encompasses the mysterious appearance of a counterfeit Coronation Egg at a party in the British ambassador's residence in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. The plot for the film is adapted from

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

's 1963 short story "

The Property of a Lady ''Octopussy and The Living Daylights'' (sometimes published as ''Octopussy'') is the fourteenth and final James Bond book written by Ian Fleming. The book is a collection of short stories published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 23 ...

". An accurate model of the Imperial Coronation Egg was depicted in the 2004 crime film ''

Ocean's Twelve ''Ocean's Twelve'' is a 2004 heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by George Nolfi. Serving as the second installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a direct sequel to ''Ocean's Eleven'' (2001). The film feature ...

''. The replica was produced by design studio Vivian Alexander, popular for recreating famous items of jewelry for public and private purposes. The replica is worth approximately

4,000. In the film, the egg was stolen in a grand heist from a museum in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. A replica of the Imperial Coronation Egg, along with the surprise coach, appear in the first episode of the

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

series ''

The Romanoffs ''The Romanoffs'' is an American anthology drama television series created, written, produced, and directed by Matthew Weiner. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 12, 2018, and features an ensemble cast that differs from episode to epi ...

'' (2018).

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

A detailed article on the ''Coronation'' Egg
{{coord missing, Moscow Imperial Fabergé eggs 1897 works Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia