The Czarevich Egg

STATISTICS

Materials: diamonds, gold, platinum or silver, lapis lazuli, watercolor, ivory
Dimensions: egg: 4 15/16"H x 3½"W (12.5 cm x 8.9 cm) frame: 3¾”H x 2¼”W (9.5 cm)
Markings: Engraved Fabergé, initials of workmaster Henrik Wigström (1862-1923), crossed anchors, 56inventory number 17547.
Date: 1912

DESCRIPTION

Fabergé knew both the joys and sorrows of the Romanovs. According to Proler, "It wasn't very well known, of course – the Imperial family kept it very quiet – that the Czarevich had hemophilia. He was dying; he was very close to death, so close that the Imperial Court had already written out his death notice. But Alexei survived, and Fabergé designed a special tribute. The Czarevich egg was Alexandra's most cherished.

This Louis XV style egg was fashioned in lapis lazuli and ornamented with chased gold. It was topped with a tabletop diamond showing the initials of the Czarina, the Imperial crown, and the year (1912). The bottom is set with a large diamond. The surprise inside ia a double-headed Imperial eagle, covered front and back with diamonds, with a miniature enamelled protrait of the Czarevich Alexei on the eagle's chest. This egg is now amidst the collection at the Virginia Museum of Arts in Richmond, VA, a bequest of Lillian Thomas Pratt

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