Pelican (Fabergé Egg)
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The Dowager (or Imperial Pelican) Fabergé egg, is a jewelled
Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). 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 1898. The egg was made for
Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...
, who presented it to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna on Easter 1898.


Design

The egg was created by Faberge's workmaster, Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin (Russian, 1860–1903) with miniatures by Johannes Zehngraf (Danish, 1857–1908) and is made of red gold, diamonds, pearls, gray, pink and opalescent blue enamel and watercolor on ivory. The stand is made of varicolored gold and the egg itself unfolds into a screen of eight ivory miniatures. The egg is one of the few Faberge eggs that is not enameled over most of its surface. It is made of engraved red gold in the Empire style, surmounted by a pelican in opalescent gray, blue and pink enamel. The pelican is feeding her young in the nest, a symbol of maternal care. The egg is engraved with classical motifs, the commemorative dates 1797–1897, and the inscription "Visit our vineyards, O Lord, and we shall dwell in thee." The egg is supported on a varicolored gold, four-legged stand and retains its original red velvet case, the only time this color was used for a Tsar Imperial Easter Egg-case.


Surprise

The egg contains eight oval miniature paintings of charitable institutions patronized by the Dowager Empress: the Kseniinsky Institute, the Nikolai Orphanage, the Patriotic Institute, the
Smolny Institute The Smolny Institute () is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia, notably as a center of women's education, and the headquarters of the Bolsheviks during the early stages of the October Re ...
, the Ekaterina Institute, the Pavel Institute, the St. Petersburg Orphanage of Nikolai, and the Elizabeth Institute. The institutions, founded mainly for the education of the daughters of the nobility, are depicted on an extending folding screen of eight ivory panels, each within a pearl border. The miniatures are painted by court miniaturist Johannes Zehngraf. On the back of each is written the name of the institution portrayed. The ninth "panel" is a stand for the other eight.


History

Because of the dates "1797 and 1897" on the Egg, for many years the Pelican Egg was ascribed to 1897, but when the original Fabergé invoice was found it showed that this Egg was presented to Maria Feodorovna for Easter 1898. In 1930, the Imperial Pelican Fabergé egg, with the eight oval miniatures, was one of ten Imperial eggs sold by the Antikvariat to
Armand Hammer Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898 – December 10, 1990) was an American businessman and philanthropist. The son of a Russian Empire-born communist activist, Hammer trained as a physician before beginning his career in trade with the newly estab ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Hammer showed the egg along with other Russian treasures at department stores all across the United States. Between 1936 and 1938 it was purchased by Lillian Thomas Pratt, the wife of John Lee Pratt, from Hammer Galleries. Mrs. Pratt willed the Egg to the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (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 supp ...
in
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
, upon her death in 1947. It remains on view as part of the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's European Decorative Art collection.


Alterations

The position of the pelican (and nest with chicks) at the egg's top has been changed, as seen by comparing historical photos of the piece when still in Russia. It has been turned 90 degrees from its original position, an alteration which seems to have been made in the 1930s in the US, when the artwork was sold to the well-known Fabergé/ Fauxbergé dealer Armand Hammer. A 1939 photo from Hammer's exhibition catalogue ''Фаберже Fabergé his Works'' already shows the pelican's wrong position. Same as in a previous photo taken (along with 9 other Imperial eggs) on 22 November 1937, the opening date of another exhibition by Hammer.Annemiek Wintraecken, Early Imperial Egg Exhibitions - 1937
/ref> Originally, when the egg was unfolded, the front of the symbolic pelican (not the side as at present) was seen on the flat piece of metal used as a stand to prop the rest of the spread-out egg up.


References


Sources

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External links


Virginia Museum of Fine Arts description
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelican (Faberge Egg) Imperial Fabergé eggs 1898 works Fabergé in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts