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Faberge egg


A Fabergé egg (Russian: Яйца Фаберже́; yaytsa faberzhe) is one of as many as sixty-nine jeweled eggs created by Peter Carl Fabergé and his company between 1885 and 1917. The most famous are those made for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers. The House of Fabergé made 50 such "Imperial" Easter eggs, of which 43 have survived. Two more were planned for Easter 1918, but were not delivered due to the Russian Revolution in which the Romanov Dynasty was overthrown and all the members of the imperial family executed.

After the revolution, the Fabergé family left Russia (see House of Fabergé). The Fabergé trademark has since been sold several times and several companies have retailed egg-related merchandise using the Fabergé name. The Victor Mayer jewelry company produced limited edition heirloom quality Fabergé eggs authorized under Unilever's license from 1998 to 2009. The trademark is now owned by Fabergé Limited, which makes egg-themed jewellery.

The first Fabergé egg was crafted for Tsar Alexander III, who had decided to give his wife, the Empress Maria Fedorovna, an Easter Egg in 1885, possibly to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their betrothal. It is believed that the Tsar's inspiration for the piece was an egg owned by the Empress’s aunt, Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark, which had captivated Maria’s imagination in her childhood. Known as the Hen Egg, the first Fabergé egg is crafted from gold. Its opaque white enameled "shell" opens to reveal its first surprise, a matte yellow-gold yolk. This in turn opens to reveal a multicolored gold hen that also opens. The hen contained a minute diamond replica of the imperial crown from which a small ruby pendant was suspended, but these last two elements have been lost.


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